Forever and Always
by Dechirure
Summary: Z/C. "What did I say to you before I gave you that necklace, Cammie?" Zach said, his finger on my chin forcing me to look up. And I didn't have to answer him to know he would always be there for me. Forever and always. I smiled. "Thanks anyway."
1. The Welcoming

**Disclaimer: Ally Carter owns the Gallagher series…I…don't. *sniffle***

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Forever and Always

Chapter 1: The Welcoming

"I am pleased to say that you all are back at Gallagher safe and sound," My mother's voice rang around the Great Hall. It sometimes helps to listen to your mother's speeches. Especially if she's the headmistress at your top-secret spy school.

But I had other things on my mind at the time. Things like the spy group that was out to kidnap me. And the nightmares I have been beginning to have; almost each one of them having something to do with the said group and…Dad. It wasn't _that _serious. Ok fine, it was very, very serious. I woke up shaking most of the time and it was becoming harder to hide.

Oh, and another one of those things was a certain someone that I was beginning to hate. Ok, I already hated him but it was getting unbearable. _Zachary Goode_.

I met him on several occasions last year and he left me hanging. Every time. And his mood swings? What was up with that guy?

Maybe it was because I was thinking about him at the time. Or because I just really wanted answers. Or maybe I'm just becoming paranoid. But my mind automatically tuned back in when I heard the word _Blackthorne_.

"-with Blackthorne. The exchange we did two semesters ago was a success, and all the staff along with the CIA agrees that it was good for all of you. We have developed a four semester program which you will learn more about in the future. All needed to be said now is welcome back Blackthorne!" In all my years of spy training, I have never seen so many shocked faces. I personally knew that the 'success' wasn't the only reason Blackthorne was back. I decided to make my mom spill later. But now…just wasn't the time.

It was never good for spy to be surprised. Spies always expect _all _the possibilities. And I knew that more than anyone else did. So, I wasn't surprised when my mom welcomed Blackthorne. I wasn't surprised when I saw Zach come in with the crowd streaming in through the doorway. But what I was surprised at was the fact that Zach stopped by on his way to the boys' table. And that I automatically stood up. And that he hugged me.

And whispered in my ear, "I missed you, Gallagher Girl."

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**A/N: How was it? Yet again, I know it's short but the chapters will get longer, don't worry about it, I have the next 10 chapters planned out. I just need to type them.**

**Review Please!**

**-Sami**


	2. The Briefing

Forever and Always

Chapter 2: The Briefing

_What I was surprised at was the fact that Zach stopped by on his way to the boys' table. And that I automatically stood up. And that he hugged me._

_And whispered in my ear, "I missed you, Gallagher Girl."_

I had no idea how to react. So I didn't. Well, not really. I just said, "Hey, that much?" He smirked his I-Know-Something-You-Don't-Know smirk. And apparently, he did.

"Listen, Cam, your mom wants us in her office after dinner, eat up."

And he left. Not that I was surprised but still. I sat back down and saw the look on Bex' face. So before she could say anything I said, "No, I don't know why she's calling me in her office," and when I saw her open her mouth I added, "And no, I also don't know why she's calling both of us."

Bex pulled an innocent look on her face. "Well, what I was _going_ to ask was if you wanted some more potatoes."

"No thanks, Bex, you are so thoughtful."

Macey was the one who had the real thoughtful expression, and she was looking from me to Zach…and back. "Spill," Liz said before I could react.

"Oh, it's just…nothing. Except," she leaned in, "how could you ever think he's over you?"

I rolled my eyes. "What makes you think he was ever into me?"

She kicked me. "You are hopeless, you know that?" I rolled my eyes. Again.

"Aren't you going to eat that?" said Bex, gesturing towards my plate. I couldn't. I saw people around us getting up so I decided to leave too. "I'm not hungry. Do whatever you want with it," I said, knowing perfectly well that Bex could kill someone with half the things on that plate.

I knew that my mom hadn't meant for us to be that early and I'm sure Zach wasn't even done yet, but I walked to her office anyway. Maybe I could get the real reason for Blackthornes reappearance. _Yeah, right Cammie, if she's hiding something it _will_ stay hidden._

I spent the rest of the way there thinking about why they would call the guys back…besides for the nonexistent four semesters plan or whatever it was, and it didn't take that long.

I knocked and I heard all motion within stop. Clearly there was more than one person inside, _why didn't I listen?_ And my moms voice responded, "Come in."

The office was the same as I always remembered it besides my mom's desk being even more cluttered than usual. My mom was at her computer station, typing away, and Mr. Solomon was flipping through a file, with another one tucked under his arm. He looked up and wasn't surprised to see who it was; he just nodded and said, "Miss Morgan."

"Solomon." To Mom I said, "You called?"

"Yes, I did, we're waiting for the other person who was called and then we'll mo~" she was cut off by a knock at the door. _Speak of the devil and the devil is appears. _'But he isn't that bad,' my subconscious said. My subconscious had better shut up. Even though it doesn't lie.

"Good evening, Ms. Morgan, Mr. Solomon, Cammie," he said, nodding to each of us in turn. Mr. Solomon put the files away and said, "Sit down."

"We've had our suspicions about this for more than half a year…but what is making us tell you is," he looked straight at us, "is that just recently we have been informed that the two most threatened people by the Circle of Cavan… are you two…"

**A/N: There, it's longer. But somehow I'm not satisfied…do any of the characters seem OOC or something? Review please and I might have two more chapters up tomorrow.**

**-Sami**


	3. The Planning

**Disclaimer: Disclaimed.**

Forever and Always

Chapter 3: The Planning

"_We've had our suspicions about this for more than half a year…but what is making us tell you is," Mr. Solomon looked straight at us, "is that just recently we have been informed that the two most threatened people by the Circle of Cavan… are you two…"_

Alright, well frankly, that wasn't very surprising after last year. Why Zach was all of a sudden involved in this…I didn't know but I still didn't get it. "Go on, that can't be it," I said.

"It isn't. These people are good. Personally, I'm impressed. I'm sure you'll agree that with these standards and with the fact that even Ms. Sutton can break through Gallagher's security, the school is the most unsafe place you could possibly be."

I wasn't hearing correctly. Gallagher? Not safe? But apparently, that wasn't all. "That is the reason you two will be sharing a dorm. Not for long. In fact, a week the longest, but we have to get you to out of the school unseen. At this point, we have two options. Either we get you out of the school giving off the impression that you didn't leave at all or leaving the school and giving off the impression that you left the country altogether."

Zach and I looked at each other and said at the same time, "The latter." It was better not to put the whole of Gallagher into danger for no reason.

"And where exactly will we be going?" I asked.

"California. It will take two days to get there by a Gallagher jet."

Zach raised his eyebrows and I openly gaped. "Tell me, how you're going to achieve getting us to a place that would take 6 hours to get to…to take 2 whole days?"

At this, my mom answered, "Call us paranoid, but you are going to be leaving going to California from the east side…"

Clearly, Zach got something I didn't, because he groaned and said, "You aren't taking us over Antarctica are you?"

"Yes Zach, we are. And you'll be landing there for a couple hours so take a jacket with you." No bloody way. (Bex was rubbing off on me)

"Ok, so let me get this straight," I said, because my head was spinning. How was Zach so relaxed about all this? "We are sharing a dorm for a week at most and then we're going to spend two days on a jet to get to California? Wait who will our covers be? Where will we live? What, how?"

"We're working those details out." My mom answered me. Then she turned to Solomon and said, "We need an evening with no students in the building, Joe."

Solomon just shrugged and said to me, "Tell Tina tomorrow is movie night. We'll have everyone out by 6."

"Is that all for now?" I asked. My brain couldn't hold anything else right then.

"Yes, it is. Your stuff is already in your dorm," my mom spent the next minute explaining where our dorm was and said, "Don't tell anyone yet. Your roommates will find out by themselves anyway, but just, not until tomorrow night or something."

I nodded and walked out of the office, and made our way to the dorm in silence.

Finally, I couldn't hold it in any longer, so I turned to Zach and said, "You knew more than half the stuff they told us tonight didn't you?"

He smirked and nodded, "Pretty much. The only surprise was the dorm part." And then added as an afterthought, "And the Antarctica part."

"Can I ask how you knew?"

He pointed to himself and said- wait for it- and said, "Spy."

Before I could retort, Zach was turning open a doorknob and leading me into the dorm. I could hardly take a glance around before he said, "Cammie, we really need to talk. Get a jacket on." He was twirling car keys around his right index finger.

**A/N: Yay! Cliffy, sorta. Ok, I know I'm going to like writing the next chapter and I have it all layed out, but I need 5 more reviews. So, just push the button and tell me what you think, nothing more.**

**-Sami**


	4. The Confessing

Forever and Always

Chapter 4: The Confessing

_Before I could retort, Zach was turning open a doorknob and leading me into the dorm. I could hardly take a glance around before he said, "Cammie, we really need to talk. Get a jacket on." He was twirling car keys around his right index finger._

Ok, I don't why, but I agreed. I grabbed a jacket without looking at it. And guess what? It was Zach's jacket. And he saw it. And smirked (no surprise there), but didn't say anything. I nearly groaned out loud.

"And we are going where?" I asked out of lack for something better to say.

"You know the place, come on," he said. So I followed him, without keeping track of where we were going and found myself face to face with the Dodge we had used last year. What caught my eye was the silver Honda Altima next to it. For some reason, I didn't care how it got there.

He drove in silence. Somehow, the road seemed vaguely familiar. Just to say something, I said, "So…I never really found out why you were in Boston." But I was sure he knew what I meant. I wanted to know the reason behind his sudden change of attitude.

He didn't say anything. Big surprise. Then he sighed and said, "Cammie, have you ever done a double-role?"

From his tone I could tell he was hesitant about this. So I said, "No, not really…why?"

"Let's just say I was a double-agent last year. And it wasn't pretty." He turned to look at me, "I'm happy it's over." I knew that was all I got, but it was enough just then.

I didn't pay attention to the road, and when Zach finally stopped, I looked up. _Oh. My. Gosh. Mr. Solomon's hut?_ My attentionturned to the lake. It was just after twilight and it looked so…peaceful.

I looked back at Zach, he motioned towards the dock. We walked there in silence and sat down, our legs dangling over the edge.

Zach was the first one to speak (for once), "You know, Cammie, after everything that happened last semester, the whole…spying society is concerned about your safety. I…am part of the spying society." He turned to look at me and something clicked. "Alright, fine. I am personally only satisfied that you are safe when you're right there next to me."

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

My brain went dead. I just sat there, watching him talk. And listening. My subconscious was singing.

"I don't know, it's just…a feeling. A feeling I had every time I looked at you since that day in the elevator. I just recognized it." He moved closer looking right at me. "It's love."

His hand was on my cheek now, and suddenly, he wasn't the cocky arrogant teenager I met in the elevator. He wasn't even the boy who dipped me in front of the whole school last year. He was the guy who wrote those two words, _Be Careful,_ on that postcard. He was a guy who was truly concerned about my safety. My subconscious melted.

"Cameron Ann Morgan, I, love you." He leaned in and kissed me. After three seconds, an hour, a week long trip to the beach, we broke apart.

I smiled, and my subconscious took over the rest, "I love you, too."

And we just sat there. A boy and a girl by the lake. Nothing else.

After a month or something, he said, "Wait here." And he walked back to the car. 93 seconds later, a heart shaped pendant was dangling in front of me, and it found its way around my neck. It had a clasp on one side, but before I reach for it, Zach said, "Open it later, and get in the car before someone notices we're gone."

I agreed, and we drove back to school, each dissolved in their own thoughts, and we reached school way too early. But, as soon as we stepped out of the car, long dark hair and gorgeous green eyes made their way towards us.

"Welcome back lovebirds."

**A/N: How was it? Alright, so this isn't really a cliffy, I'm sure you all can guess who it is, but the first four people to ****PM ****me (do not write this in a review) and tell me who it is get a sneak peek! Oh, and I know I asked for like 5 reviews on the last chapter, but I got 12 before I could update, sorry. Review Please!**

**-Sami**


	5. The Questioning

Forever Again

Chapter 5: The Questioning

_We drove back to school, each dissolved in their own thoughts, and we reached school way too early. But, as soon as we stepped out of the car, long dark hair and gorgeous green eyes made way towards us._

"_Welcome back lovebirds."_

"If you two weren't together, you would've been in so much trouble…" she trailed off.

Aunt Abby? How is it that she always knows? I glanced at Zach. He was smirking, twirling the car keys around his index finger, left thumb in his pocket. I suppose it's safe to say that he looks hot now, right?

"When did you get here? We couldn't have been gone for more than half an hour…" 34 minutes and 18 seconds to be exact but who's counting?

"Oh, your mom called this morning to help with your covers and such. And I needed a break. Either way, I'll be leaving a few days after you guys so, it's best not to make my presence known." She turned around and started walking. We followed.

"Who else knows that we sneaked out?" I asked.

"Oh, it's just me. I know you, squirt. But if you weren't together…" I didn't get the deal, but I decided not to ask. Suddenly, I realized something. When we came here last year, we used a passageway. That was filled with spiders. And dark and dirty. And now we were going around it, and using a door? Seriously?

"There are two ways in?" Aunt Abby nodded vaguely. Suddenly, she stopped. We were one corridor away from our dorm. I opened my mouth to ask but Abby said, "Cam, a word." To Zach, she said, "Eyes open, ears closed, got it?" Causing him to shrug and put an earphone in his left ear, taking a few steps away and leaning on the wall.

"Cam, we're bolting you two out together, meaning we trust this kid. But Cammie, you still don't really know him, just do me a favor and be careful, ok?" I nodded not knowing what she meant but hiding it. "Walk back to the dorm with Zach, ok? I had business here but I'm going to talk to that mother of yours first, oh, and tell you roommates where you are before going to sleep. Knowing Bex, she'll start a riot if she doesn't find out tonight." She left.

So we climbed up the steps to our dorms and decided to switch places to avoid questions. I told the boys and he told the girls. The boys didn't really care too much. I just walked in and said, "Zachs room has changed for the night so he won't be coming, alright?" They nodded or grunted and I went out to wait for Zach.

But Zach came back saying, " Bex doesn't believe us, good luck when she decides to interrogate you tomorrow." I groaned. On the way back, I stopped at Tina's suite; there was no way she was sleeping. I knocked three times and all the giggling stopped. "Hey, Tina, Mr. Solomon wanted me to tell you to tell the whole school that tomorrow is movie night, ok?" Causing her to switch her gaze from Zach to me.

"Wow, it is?" To her roommates she said, "Guys, we get to get out of the school tomorrow evening because Ms. Morgan is expecting the president of Bulgaria tomorrow, and they're discussing whether or not flip-flops should be allowed on Secret Service helicopters." Oh boy.

"Was there something else Cammie?"

"No, thanks. Good night Tina." And I bolted.

I suddenly felt exhausted. We walked into the dorm after 84 seconds and saw two doors that led into the bedrooms of the common room-y place. Ok, four doors but two of them were bathrooms. I yawned and said, "I'm exhausted Zach, good night. Keep the volume down of you're watching football." I started for the bathroom and stopped midway. I heard myself saying, "Thanks for tonight Zach... I'll never forget it."

He smiled and said, "You're welcome." The smile turned into a smirk and before he could make some cocky remark, I said, " _Don't ruin the moment." _His smirk grew wider. I shook my head and walked into one of the the bathrooms. It was average, a mirror, a sink, a shower stall, and there was plenty of room.

After brushing my teeth, I randomly walked into one and threw myself onto the bed.

And then I remembered. I didn't have a problem with my roommates finding out but my nightmares were going to be hard to hide from Zach.

**A/N: There you have it. I have nothing to say right now, I'm exhausted too, and I have no nightmares to worry about, so review please! And I'll update tomorrow.**

**-Sami**


	6. The Answering

**A/N: Just to clear something up, the nightmares Cammie is talking about are mentioned in the first chapter. She has been having nightmares about the Circle and about her dad. More details as the story goes on. PM me if you have any other confusions.**

Forever and Always

Chapter 6: The Answering

_And then I remembered. I didn't have a problem with my roommates finding out…but my nightmares were going to be hard to hide from Zach._

And that was the reason I could hardly sleep that night. I dosed of for moments and woke up again, and then finally, at 6:13, I decided to get up, even though it was Saturday. I glanced at myself in the mirror and my eyes were red. _Oh joy._

But when I went to brush my teeth, guess who was already up. "Good morning, Gallagher girl." He glanced at me but didn't seem to notice anything.

I avoided his eyes and said, "Morning." Big mistake. He started watching me more closely. I took as long as I could in the bathroom, and when I came out, Zach didn't look up from his laptop but said, "You've been having nightmares right?"

I hate him. I opened my mouth to deny but long ago had I stopped denying things Zachary Goode had already figured out. "So?"

He shrugged. Something I hadn't expected. "You should tell someone."

It was my turn to shrug. "It doesn't matter."

He looked at me. "Fine, it's your decision. But do me a favor."

"Depends on what it is."

I expected him to smirk but he didn't. Instead he said, "Go get some sleep before breakfast. Or sleep early tonight. Just stop trying to hide it."

"I'll sleep early tonight, happy?"

"Not really. That means we'd have to come back from back from our movie early." He was smirking.

"Are you asking me out?"

"You're the Gallagher girl here. Figure it out."

I leaning towards him from behind his chair and said, "It's a date." He smirk grew larger. If that's possible.

I switched on the TV. Nothing on. I glanced at Zach and decided that if I didn't find something to do soon, I'd die of boredom. So I started talking.

"I still don't get it."

"Get what?" He looked up.

"What's so great about having us use this dorm? I mean, I get that having us stay in our dorms would get all our roommates involved and the less people involved the better, but it's not like this room has some other advantage."

"Actually, Gallagher girl, it does. There some sort of paneling on the floors of our rooms that opens up to a passageway. The passageway leads to an air vent in your mother's office and to the helicopter pad."

I stared. "Have you been tapping on the floor all night?" He smirked.

Suddenly, he seemed to realixe something and he slammed his laptop shut and said, "I have to talk to Mr. Solomon, alright? See you at breakfast."

He waited for me to nod then dashed out the door. _What was that all about? _I was still bored so I debated whether or not to hack into his laptop then decided just to take the risk and meet my roommates. They were probably up all night discussing where I was and why.

One minute and 42 seconds later, I discovered I was right. Bex answered the door and dragged me into the room, and dumped me onto the bed.

She, Macey and Liz crowded around me and said, "Spill. Where were you last night?"

"Well, um, see- my mom, wanted me to…"

Bex suddenly screamed. "Oh my Gosh, Cam, it's dripping!"

"…what?"

"You sentence, Cammie," Macey sang. "It's dripping with lies."

I rolled my eyes. "Guys, I'll tell you where I was, but don't ask questions, I can't tell you why." I hastily added, "Yet," as Bex gave me a death glare.

They sighed and motioned me to go on.

"I was in a dorm a couple floors down from me, and I'll be there for the next week or so."

"Why?" they all asked simultaneously.

I looked at them incredulously, "I can't tell you, come on!"

Macey then asked, "Fine, but is there anyone else there with you?"

I took a deep breath and said, "Yes. It's Zach."

I could almost see the interest triple in them. Let the interrogation begin. 'Cause there's nothing I can do about it. _God, save me._

**A/N: Yay! Longest chapter yet. Be happy people, I got ten reviews and I had this written already, so I updated. Oh, and the seventh chapter is 65% done. And I won't update it until I get..hmm..12 reviews. Review please! Oh, and I would post this in a poll, but, there isn't time so, do you guys want action before they go to CA or on the plane? There will most definitely be action in CA but I want to have some action before that too. Thanks!**

**-Sami**


	7. The Proving

Forever and Always

Chapter 7: The Proving

_Macey then asked, "Fine, but is there anyone else there with you?"_

_I took a deep breath and said, "Yes. It's Zach."_

_I could almost see the interest triple in them. Let the interrogation begin. 'Cause there's nothing I can do about it. __God, save me._

I swear I seriously love Zach. Just as my roommates began to cave in around me, he knocked. And when the door opened, he said, "Gallagher Girl, we have to meet your mom and Mr. Solomon again."

"When and why?" I asked, grateful for a distraction.

He seemed to fully take in the scene in the room before saying, "Now, and they'll tell you why, hurry up."

"Sorry guys, I wish I could stay, but…" I trailed off.

"Oh it's ok, right guys? We'll just catch up with you later after breakfast."

I stopped myself from shuddering and walked out of the room after Zach. We started to walk the total opposite direction I shot a questioning glance his way, Zach said, "Oh, they're not calling us now. It's after lunch."

I stared for a moment then said, "Thank. You. Very. Very. Much. I love you."

"I love you too, Gallagher Girl."

And guess what? I hate my subconscious again. You know why? Because it talks before it thinks. I found myself saying, "Prove it," before Zach took my hand and literally dragged me into the nearest secret passageway.

"What are we doing here Zach?"

"Oh, we're proving it," he said, before sliding his arms around my waist. The last thing I saw was his smirk, before he pressed his lips to mine. And suddenly, I forgot everything.

Well, I forgot everything for about four minutes and seventeen seconds when we broke of for air and we heard voices outside. I recognized Tina's, "Well, Mr. Solomon wants to talk to Cammie and Zach, so I'm finding her anyway, and when I do, you can ask her for yourself, Eva. Today _is_ movie night because…"

I was all for staying within the passageway, but Zach steered me right out, one arm still around my waist.

"Hello Tina, Eva." He said nonchalantly.

Tina turned around to reply and bat her eyelashes but her eyelashes went way, way up. I couldn't blame her. Zach's arm was still around me and we had just gotten out of a small, compact, dark, locked up passageway.

"So…" she said, "you two are-uh, together now?"

Zach was two steps ahead of me, "Yeah, we are. You had to tell us something? Mr. Solomon?" I stared at him.

"Oh, yeah, um, but first, Cammie, tell Eva that we do have a movie night in town after dinner. She doesn't believe me. Ugh."

I sighed. "Yes, Eva, we do have movie night tonight, but it is not, I repeat not, because of the President of any country because of any sort of flip flops." Both of them blinked.

"Was there any thing else Tina, or can we go meet Mr. Solomon now?" Zach said, glancing at a nonexistent watch.

"Oh, yeah, go meet him in Ms. Morgan's study," she said, glancing at the arm he had around me, _again. _And then she disappeared around the corridor, whispering with Eva about this new find. Great.

"What was that about Zach?"

He smirked before saying, "Come on, Gallagher Girl, you loved hearing me say that."

"Course I did, but seriously…" He kissed me before I could say anything else. This was like second nature now…I love you, subconscious!

"Earth to lovebirds," Aunt Abby's voice echoed the halls. I would've died but Abby didn't really seem to care about finding us...well...yeah. "Joe and Rachel want you in the office now. We've got your covers."

We jogged to catch up to her. "What else?" I asked.

"Well, the route changed. A little. You aren't landing in Antarctica. That's too much trouble."

When we reached the office, Mr. Solomon handed both of us a file. "Read it later. Listen first."

He motioned us to the sofa and leaned on the coffee table in front of it. "Landing in Antarctica is not a good idea, and yes, two days is too long. So now, you're just going to go around South America and back up to California. Sixteen hours."

My mom walked over to us. "Go pack enough clothes for couple of months. No more than...six suitcases?" She glanced at Mr. Solomon and he nodded before saying, "And you'll have two suitcases each with the necessary spy equipment. We'll have it all taken to the jet today."

"What's the rush? When're we leaving?" I asked.

"Tonight."

**A/N: Review please. And next chapter (or maybe the one after that) is major Zammie, so stay tuned. Oh, and it is also a cliffy but stay tuned anyway. Review please! I want fifteen for an update.**

**-Sami**


	8. The Explaining

Forever and Always

Chapter 8: The Explaining

"_What's the rush? When're we leaving?" I asked._

"_Tonight."_

So we took the files, went upstairs and packed. Gosh, we had all our stuff moved down two floors and we had to pack a few suitcases ourselves?

Anyway, three suitcases weren't so hard to pack. All my stuff was neatly folded from the transfer yesterday, and I hadn't used too much of it. I just picked up stacks of clothes, stuffed them in and sat on top of the suitcases so I could close them. I was glad I didn't have Macey packing but I had to pack some of the clothes she would make me wear, because the 18 year old Leticia Andrews in my cover loved to dress up. And loved to shop. And loved a lot of other things I didn't have an interest for. Besides being 19 year old Drake Whitman's girlfriend.

We were allowed to have one bag to keep with us at all times that was besides the six others. I kept most of the things I would need in the journey, and most of the things I wanted (a.k.a. Zach's jacket, not that I would let him know) along with my iPod, in which I had hid a picture of Dad in the casing. And we were done by breakfast. And Zach just _had_ to have his arm around me when we went down to breakfast. Not that I minded. He kissed me on the cheek and walked to the boys table. I walked to the girls table deciding to tell Bex, Liz and Macey what I could since I was leaving tonight.

"Hey guys."

"Cammie, you have a lot of explaining to do," Bex whined, "Tell us what happened last night. Tina's been spreading all sorts of rumors. Please?"

"Ok, let me get something to eat and I'll tell you upstairs."

They nodded eagerly and made me bolt down breakfast before taking me upstairs. Liz had a notebook and pen ready for taking notes. I told them everything. Liz kept gasping in between. And Bex said, "Are you bloody serious," more times than she said anything else. Macey had a superior look on her face.

When I finally finished, I decided not to tell them about the necklace, even though I'm pretty sure Macey noticed the way my shirt puckered in front, judging by her satisfied smile.

"Oh, and he asked me out this morning. You know, movie night after dinner."

"Yeah, Ms. Morgan announced that before you-."

Bex was interrupted by Liz squealing, "This makes it official. You two are a couple!" She said dramatically. Her point was proven when Macey nodded in agreement.

I bit back a laugh and turned to Bex. "What did Tina say?"

"Oh, she was just saying something about you two making out in a passageway this morning."

My guilty expression set of a whole new round of questions.

* * *

Zach and I walked back to our dorm after lunch to find our six suitcases gone, and a note along with a comms on each of our beds. Mine read:

_Miss Morgan,_

_Your suitcases have been driven to the jet, along with the spy equipment. Give nobody a reason to suspect anything. Go to the movies tonight with the rest of the school(casual clothing) and keep the comms on, everyone else has been given one as well, just in case. Come in clothing which follows your cover to the helicopter pad half past midnight. Details will be explained there._

_Solomon_

Now, the phrase I despised the most was, 'Clothing which follows your cover.' Why? Because my cover was rich. And loved dressing up. And I had to look like someone who belonged on private jet, which would be much easier with my uniform, but I was sort of hiding the fact that I went to Gallagher.

I dug through all the stuff that Macey and Bex had made me buy through the years and found the perfect outfit for both the date and, the journey.

I chose, a white tank top, a flowy-ish brown skirt which reached two inches above my knees and a matching fur sweater half. White dangling earrings, and a few white bracelets were all the jewelry I intended to wear. Besides the pendant Zach had given (which I still hadn't opened). The shoes I would have to ask Macey for.

Dinner was, again, bolted down because my roommates were intent on dressing me up. Macey was satisfied with the clothes I chose and gave me a choice between brown boots and white three inch high heels. I took the boots, they were easier to run in, not to mention walk.

Bex and Macey insisted on doing my hair and make-up. They curled my hair slightly from the front and did light make-up with lip gloss as the only visible part. When they were satisfied, they let me go meet Zach at the foyer, and went to visit Grant and Jonas in their dorm.

Zach was casual but not too casual, as I was. He did the same thing as when we went into town two semesters ago, messed up his hair in all the right places. He wore a simple white shirt, dark wash jeans and a black leather jacket over it. Do I even have to mention he looked hot?

"You look nice Gallagher Girl," he said when I greeted him.

I raised my eyebrows, "Last time I dressed up, it was, 'You don't look hideous.'"

He smirked. And we walked into town, his arm around my waist as if it had been glued there.

The movie ended pretty quickly. I was still not used to being hot, despite last year, when Bex packed for me, and I tried not to act surprised when boys around us at the theater glared at Zach. We decided just to go for a stroll around town.

"You ready for tonight?" Zach asked.

"I don't know really. I guess so. You?" I couldn't really keep track of anything anymore; we were passing the exact spot where Zach had tried to kiss me two semesters ago.

"Are you having a case of déjà vu right now Gallagher Girl?" I knew he was smirking.

"Oh, I don't know Zach," suddenly feeling more confident, "this place seems familiar."

"I was thinking the same thing." He turned and blocked my path, putting his other arm around my waist, "Just so you know I'm going to kiss you now, Gallagher Girl," causing me to laugh. He leaned in and kissed me, but we were interrupted again. Not by DeeDee and Josh, but by our comms.

"All Gallagher and Blackthorne students to report back to school within five." Mr. Solomon's urgent voice rang in my ears. "I repeat, all students to-"

Zach glanced at me and we sprinted back to school, trying and failing not to attract too much attention. Something was wrong.

All the students got back in the building just before the sirens rang, "_CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK!"_

**A/N: Cliffy! Sorry my lovely readers, this was less Zammie than I hoped but I might make a one shot this week with their date, if anyone is interested but I have to get theses two to California. I want 18 reviews for an update. Review please!**

**-Sami**


	9. The Escaping

Forever and Always

Chapter 9: The Escaping

_Zach glanced at me and we sprinted back to school, trying and failing not to attract too much attention. Something was wrong._

_All the students got back in the building just before the sirens rang, "__CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK!"_

There was a helicopter circling the roof, one side door opening, a ladder descending down it. I strained to hear Mr. Solomon's instructions through the comms. "All students to report back to their dorms. That leaves no exception, all students to report~"

Zach looked frustrated at the instructions. I couldn't balme him, part of me wanted to make sure everyone got to safety. Another part of me wanted to get on that roof and make the enemy regret coming here, but most of all, I wanted to dissappear when I heard Aunt Abbys voice through the comms. It was a if her sharp voice made everything real. She sounded really calm about all of this but before I could marvel at her skills, she said, "Zach, Cammie, Gallagher van, outside the gates, now, and under no circumstances are you to be separated, I'll meet you there."

There were people spreading out all over the roof now, how could I just leave? When I opened my mouth to argue, she cut me off, "Do I look like an idiot to you Cammie? We know what they want, and they aren't going to get it. Trust me." Maybe it was the fact that she a had taken a bullet from these people but something in her voice made me respond to her wishes and Zach and I tore through the dispersing crowd.

"How're we supposed to get out? It's a Code Black," I said. Zach had a sudden determination in his eyes, and he said, "Jimmy will have to come in useful sometime right?" And he urged me through the same passageway I had used a whole semester to sneak out to meet Josh. A million memories could have raced through my mind but I pushed them out.

Sure enough, the van was right out side the gate, Abby was already starting it. We dashed into the back seat, and threw our carry-on bags to the floor (how did they get there) and turned around to watch the action on the roof, and there I got the biggest surprise of the night.

Not one person was injured, nor allies nor enemies, in fact, nobody from Gallagher was even on the roof. I knew that the trespassing agents knew where I was, I could feel all their eyes trained on the van that was speeding of towards the airport. They were climbing back into the helicopter, leaving the school untouched and traveling in the total opposite direction. "What is going on!?" I turned to Aunt Abby for answers.

"I'd tell you if I knew squirt, but I'm guessing they hoped to get-whatever they were after- at Gallagher. Seeing you two reach the middle of town before they could do anything, I think they were trying not to attract too much attention."

"And why didn't they seem to care that the whole of Gallagher knew they were coming ten minutes before they arrived?" Zach asked; his hand still in mine.

"They were either trying to create a diversion, create chaos, or had an entirely different plan, but it was definitely intended." She added under her breath, "Or they were either really brave or really stupid." I laughed shakily.

"And what exactly were _we_ doing?" he continued.

"Oh, well we've been suspecting that this would happen…" but I cut her off by saying, "For how long?"

But it was Zach who answered, "Since this morning." I laughed again, and Abby joined me for a second before continuing, "So the staff has been working on security and now, during a Code Black, the building becomes a turtle shell; nothing can go in or out. It isn't exactly the best way to go, so we aren't going to keep it like that all year, but precautions are necessary. We didn't want people getting hurt this time around."

We sat in silence for a moment before Abby brought up the details we were supposed to find out at midnight.

"Alright, details, number one; you are going to go to California, yadda yadda yadda, on a private auto-pilot jet. We decided to hide the fact that it's Gallagher for obvious reasons.

"Number two; there is a contact system in the plane so you won't be left in the dark through the journey, even though I think you will be anyway. Number three; stick to your cover at all times. We have tweaked it a bit here and there, the new versions are in your carry-on bags, memorize them. Are there any questions until now?"

We shook our heads and then, remembering she couldn't see us, I said, "Not yet." My voice was still shaking.

She said, "Good, because here comes the slightly complicated part. Your covers aren't really…believable. Well, they are, but they could be better. So, you roommates will be joining you in a few days. It's much more believable to have seven students from Virginia doing a simple high school project for a couple of months. We have to make their covers as well, and, since Macey is the Senators daughter, that could take some time." Before I could react, she continued, "but remember, for them, this is a test, and protecting their best friends but for you two, it's so much more."

"Alright… what are we supposed to do once we get there?"

"Oh, right, you have CIA escorts. Not agents, but trusted people. For the first few days, just lay low, get to know your surroundings. And patiently wait for instructions. One of the things both of you are worst at." Zach smirked at this.

The rest of the ride went in silence. I thought about what the Circle of Cavan was looking for this time around and why they left so quickly. For some reason, their lack of action scared me more than Boston. Zach must have noticed something because he squeezed my hand reassuringly. I must have dozed of for a while because the next thing I knew, Zach was shaking me gently and Abby was on the phone. She walked over when I got out of the van.

"Alright kiddos, I'll get you on the flight and I'll let you know if we find anything when I get back. If I can, of course. Safe flight," she smiled and walked around, opening her hair and shaking it out. _At least she isn't a ghost._

"Come on Gallagher, our flight's whenever we want it to be. And I'd like to sleep through it."

"It-um-is?" I asked.

"Nope, it's in 48 minutes. Half an hour to get through security." I rolled my eyes.

I didn't know, but as I boarded the jet. A picture of dad in my iPod, a pendant next to my heart, Zach alongside me, I felt perfectly safe but thoroughly scared. And worried; was everyone at Gallagher ok? What would it take to make it stay that way? Through the midst of emotions, I realized that tonight was not going to be a dreamless night for me.

**A/N: How was it? I really loved writing this chapter for some reason. And looky here, no cliffy! Well, not really. Now review please, and if you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to tell me. **

**-Sami**


	10. The Dreaming

Forever and Always

Chapter 10: The Dreaming

After boarding the jet, I looked around despite how tired I was. It wasn't huge and it wasn't tiny, just right. It had four seats, two towards one side, and two to the other. They were pretty big, big enough to sleep comfortably in; they reclined and had a footrest, perfect. There was a screen towards the back. Behind it, there was a TV and a mini fridge, along with a sofa and one of those ridiculously furry rugs. Two bathrooms (thank God). There was a cockpit, but the only lever I paid attention to was one that said, "Switch of auto-pilot." Who would we do that?

I took my iPod out and tossed my carry-on into the overhead locker. I sat down and looked at Zach who was doing the same thing before walking over to the cock-pit and turning the contact system on. He walked back over kissed me one the cheek before he said, "You, Gallagher Girl are going to get some sleep. Now." But he didn't have to, I was yawning before I could retort.

*** * ***

_I was walking towards my mother's office. Why had she called me? I heard voices before I entered, one was my moms and one was familiar, but I couldn't really place it. The voice sounded like a long lost memory. I peered around the door and saw…Dad? He was beaming, he looked exactly like he had in the picture I had of him. He hugged me and before I could say anything, I heard sirens. I heard a thud as a wall separated me and my dad from my mother; I thought I would die as a heard her scream._

_My dad grabbed my arm and started running. I followed, I didn't know where we were going, but I knew that wherever we were, we were putting everyone there in danger. I had to get them away from Gallagher._

_We sprinted and Gallagher began to fade in the distance. We were in a forest, a forest with trees so dense and close together, that it was a cave. We heard yells and the blades of a chopper and gunshots. The look in my dads eyes changed and I knew. He was going to get me to safety, even if he dies in the process. There was an opening on the other side. Everything was a blur, and at the same time so vivid. They were getting closer; whoever they were, they were getting closer. The last thing I heard was a gunshot that was sharper than the rest and the last thing I felt was my dads grasp on me one last time. And the last thing I saw was the life die out from my dads eyes. I screamed._

_* * *_

I woke up shaking, tears streaming down my eyes. I sought comfort but I didn't have to. Zach's arms were already around me. He didn't say anything, just stroked my hair until my sobs subsided, my head buried in his chest. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked softly.

I looked up at him, and knew that if there was anybody who could understand, anybody I could stand to tell, it was definitely Zach. He knew what it was like to loose a parent, how hard it was. I told him everything. He listened. After I told him, he had an odd look on his face, as if remembering something. He shook his head as if to shake of a weird feeling and asked, "How do you feel now?"

"Better." I said, and tried to smile at him.

"I told you that you should tell someone." He was smirking again.

"Yeah, thanks." I mumbled. He looked surprised at this. If the circumstance were different, I would be savoring the moment. He said, "For what?"

"For listening," I heard myself say. I felt myself blush and I saw Zach roll his eyes before sliding down on the seat next to me, putting one arm around me and putting a finger on my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

"What did I say to you before I gave you that necklace?" he asked. And I didn't have to answer him to know he would always be there for me. I smiled, "Thanks anyway."

He smiled back before saying, "Go back to sleep."

He picked up his blanket from the he seat on the other side of the plane and dropped it onto the seat next to me. He sat down, and said, "Wake me up if you need anything." I knew I wouldn't have to. He'd know anyway.

He had one arm around me and as I dosed of, I thought that nothing could go wrong, the complete wrong thing to think as a spy. He fell asleep, but he was still alert, and making sure not to wake him up, I opened the pendant for the first time. It had a space for a photo on one side and a rose engraved in the other with he etter C on one side and Z on the other.

I knew I fell asleep smiling.

I woke up to find Zach laughing at something. He was talking to someone at Gallagher and I thought about joining him, when I saw his wallet lying on the armrest on his seat. I grabbed it and searched through the pockets, when I found some photos that we kept in case we had to whip up fake IDs. I found one that had him smirking slightly in it, as if someone was standing behind the camera. Perfect. I slid it into the pendant before walking to the cock-pit.

I heard Mr. Solomon's voice as he said, "Yeah, well, your roommates haven't let us sleep all night." And sure enough I heard Bex's exasperated voice in the background. "Well I don't know, but if I don't get answers or at least get to speak to Cammie, I don't know what I'll do…"

"Alright fine, but no more than three at a time, you guys are five, I wonder how you'll decide," Aunt Abby's amused voice held back laughter as she listened to Bex and Macey rant.

I could almost picture Bex and the girls glaring at Grant and Jonas and sure enough, Grant said, "The girls can go first, no problem." Zach looked like he had failed on them. I laughed.

"Cammie!" I saw my roommates appear on the screen in front of me.

"Hey guys," I said, "Miss me?"

Macey rolled her eyes before saying, "That goes unanswered." They finally seemed to see Zach standing next to me, "Hey Zach."

"Hey," he nodded.

"What did you do to Grant and Jonas?" I asked. "They're on the tip of your finger now."

"They were always on the tip of their fingers Cam," Zach answered, making us laugh. I could see my roommates looking back and forth between me and Zach, and knew they wanted to ask me what happened so far. (Note to self: Turn off cell phone before it gets bombarded with texts.)

We went on like that, talking, laughing and I wondered I the Circle of Cavan was really after me.

But that was before the lights turned off and the plane lurched, cutting of our connection.

**A/N: Cliffy! I want enough reviews to make me happy; I'm not even giving you a number of wanted reviews. So review please!**

**Other A/N: Skatr gave me the idea but I'm not going to tell you what it was even though most of you are smart enough to go rummaging in my reviews. So that's who I'm going to dedicate the next chappie to!**

**Happy holidays everyone!**

**-Sami**


	11. The Lurching

Forever and Always

Chapter 11: The Lurching

Dedicated to Skatr for the idea. Rock on!

_We went on like that, talking, laughing and I wondered If the Circle of Cavan was really after me._

_But that was before the lights turned off and the plane lurched, cutting of our connection_.

Zach seemed to know exactly what was happening. He grabbed my hand, turned me around and pressed me against the wall right before the plane gave another lurch; the lurch would have thrown me to the other side of the plane if Zach wasn't there.

The plane then stopped abruptly and the lights flickered back off, only to be turned off again, and the plane was descending. Zach swore in four different languages before cautiously letting me go and tossing me his Blackberry. "Contact someone, anyone at Gallagher. And hold on to something."

The lights kept blinking and the plane kept descending, after trying my moms office number for a second than switching to one of Macey's cell phones, I looked down at the screen. No signal. I rammed it in my pocket and walked to the end of the cock-pit where our spy gear was and took out one of them just in case, stumbling the whole way.

I looked up to see Zach looking at the lever which read, "Switch of auto-pilot" as if it was his last resort. "Zach, are you crazy? You've never flown a pane before!" I screamed. But that wasn't stopping him. The plane gave a jerk and started descending faster, causing me to stumble and scrape my arm on a hinge. That seemed to make up Zach's mind. He jammed the lever down and pulled one of the steering wheels up.

At first it seemed like we were going to crash, but the lights turned on again and the plane began to pull out of its dive. Zach let out a sigh of relief. I hugged him. "Try Gallagher now." I said. He nodded. The screen sprang back to life but it could be awhile before it picked up. He pushed another button and four smaller screens hummed on. Surveillance. Everything was clear. Except the rear view. Three jets appeared in view; my breathe hadn't even had a chance to return to normal pace before it sped up again. Zach swore again. Six languages.

"-I don't know, even Liz says there was no warning before it shut off completely…" It was Bex's voice. I had never been more relieved to hear it. I looked at the screen and Bex was talking with Mr. Solomon, Liz biting her nails nearby. I walked over and said, "Bex? Be-ex?"

She swiveled around and nearly screamed, "Cammie what happened? Are you alright? Where's Zach? How…?" She kept babbling and I cut her off by saying, "Get Mr. Solomon on, NOW…" but I didn't have to, Mr. Solomon was already there, his face showing relief like I hadn't known he could be.

"Cammie, was it something- somebody interfering with the system or are you being followed?"

"Both," Zach answered for me. I was glad, my breathe was so unsteady that I didn't trust my voice. "We aren't on auto-pilot anymore and we have three jets behind us right this moment."

I heard Mr. Fibs voice in the distance before Abby came in and said, "It's fine to get off auto-pilot now, but Zach, turn slightly to the…east before you do it." Zach obliged and turned the auto-pilot back on. "We're still being followed." He said impatiently.

"Yes you are." Aunt Abby said, before Liz and Jonas showed up.

"No you aren't," Liz sang. "Apparently, they knew where you were going because they hacked into the CIA system, meaning that they knew which route the auto-pilot was taking you. Dr. Fibs just changed that."

Something fell into place and I said, "So where are we going now?"

"Dreux. It's sixty miles west of Paris. You'll be staying in Hotel le Beffroi for a night and these five will be meeting you there." Macey was looking at something on my moms desk and she looked up at this, "We are?"

"Yes, you are." Mr. Solomon said. "Get packing." _Great way to get Macey out. _

"Now, what exactly happened Cam?" My mom appeared on the scene, looking relieved but all-for-business.

After explaining everything, Abby said, looking satisfied, "This is exactly why we put you two together."

Mr. Solomon cut in and said, "You'll be landing in 3 hours. Wait for an escort to the hotel, these five will be meeting you there, tomorrow. You're leaving the next day. Report anything suspicious at all."

"And keep the system on," my mother added. "Take care and call us when you reach there." Aunt Abby nodded.

The line went dead and we decided to watch a movie. After rummaging through the DVD's for half an hour, we settled on the latest James Bond movie. If Bex was here… then let's just say the CIA would have to pay for another TV. I fell asleep after the movie, not bothering to get out of the couch in Zach's arms and onto my seat. I woke up in my seat after the plane landed anyway; I wonder how…

We saw our escort, a limousine. No doubt provided by the CIA. I was back in spy mode after we landed and that was when I noticed that the chauffeur had a forced smile and familiar blue eyes. Blue eyes I had seen in Boston.

**A/N: I know, cliffy's are getting really common now. The next chapter won't be cliffy, IF I get enough reviews. Review please! **

**-Sami**


	12. The Recognizing

Forever and Always

Chapter 12: The Recognizing

I stood there frozen, Zach's arm around my shoulder, waiting for our limousine and I realized that I wasn't staring at our chauffeur. I was staring at someone waiting for a vehicle and every now and then he looked up the street impatiently and then glanced at his Spiderman watch.

That did it. Spiderman watch? I looked at the persons face and thick black hair, a large nose, and the overall face of someone in their mid-twenties. I stripped away the cover piece by piece and finally _saw_ who it was. Preston. The current first-son of America. Wearing a disguise. With no back-up in sight.

"Zach," I muttered. He nodded. He had noticed too.

"It's nothing Cammie, first son of America in Dreux in disguise, there could be dozens of explanations," he muttered back.

"You expect me to believe that?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course not, but I had to give it a shot," he said, shrugging. "But I do expect you to trust me when I say that it's none of our business, Gallagher Girl." He said it but I knew he didn't believe it. "We're going to be good little spies in training and let the adults handle it."

The limousine chose that moment to show up around the curb and our luggage to be rolled into sight. And before I could say anything, our luggage was in the trunk and Zach was beside me at the back of the limo. He could see that the fact was still nagging me so he said, "Cammie, I've told the school, juts drop it."

"Sure Blackthorne Boy, because we spies are _so _good at dropping it." He laughed. I could hear Abby's voice no,_ Another reason why we shouldn't have put you together. You two are so annoyingly persistent. Biggest mistake of our lives._

"But still, Gallagher Girl, drop it." He turned on the radio at this, and I pulled my laptop out. I thought about emailing Bex, Liz and Macey about Preston but decided not to.

When we were halfway there, I saw Zach's eyes widen and I pulled an earphone out of my ear as he reached for the volume control on the radio, and it blared, "Preston Winters, first son of America, missing. Authorities are trying to connect this incident with the attacks on Macey McHenry a few months ago. As Abigail Cameron, part of the US Secret Service stated this morning…" I wanted to hear the rest but at that moment I felt something vibrate in my pocket. Zach's phone. I pulled it out and saw my mother's number. The next moment, Zach was talking into it, on speaker, the radio turned off.

"So, Zach, you just contacted Joe saying you and Cammie saw Preston Winters outside the airport. In Dreux and in disguise?"

"Yeah, we did, do we get to know what he was doing there?" Zach asked, but somehow, I knew he knew more than he was letting on.

"He ran away, apparently," my mom said and she suddenly seemed very tired. "We have to contact the CIA now, just do us a favor and keep your eyes open. Take care."

Zach murmured his consent into the phone before shutting it off. "So much for being good little spies in training." He muttered and I smiled. Somehow, I couldn't help but wonder why we were always in the midst of it. And then it hit me. We were in DREUX. Which is supposed to be a small city in France. In Europe. And so was the first son of America? There had to be a connection. Where was Liz's genius mind when you needed it?

"Zach, how…" But Zach was already nodding. What was with him knowing exactly what I was thinking today? "Someone knows," was all he let on. Great. Real informative. I rolled my eyes, causing him to smirk and pulled my iPod out. I listened to New Divide by Linkin Park and absentmindedly pulled at my pendant. All of this was getting tiring. All of it.

We got to our hotel at 12:00, just in time for lunch on the fourth floor. Our suite was huge. The rooms were sizes of two master bedrooms, along with bathrooms that Macey would approve of and a large living space. There were two rooms, Zach and I could use them ourselves before the others got there and then there would be one for the girls and one for the boys. We watched TV until dinner like… normal teenagers. Dinner was five star foods that I was so used to eating, and I felt like trying something different. Zach agreed and we walked into town to grab cheeseburgers.

"Still wondering about Preston?" he asked on the way back.

"Kind of. But living with Macey… you realize how hard their lives are. I never imagined he would run away though." Personally, I knew that Macey and Preston weren't so different from me. I knew that if I were Gallagher and not roaming around the world, I would seriously be considering running away what with having the Circle after me. As usual, Zach saw through my words.

"Yes you did, and you would wish to do the same thing if…"

"If?" I asked, suddenly more interested.

"If you weren't in France with me," he finished, playfully poking me. Which caused me to not-so-playfully punch him on the arm. He winced but put his arm around me none-the-less. We stuck to our covers all the way back to the hotel room, which wasn't so hard.

"Goodnight Gallagher Girl," he said, grabbing his carry-on and waiting for my reply before kissing me on the cheek and walking into his room. I changed and brushed absentmindedly before throwing myself onto one of the beds.

Not even half the journey to our real destination was over and I was already tired of it. And my thoughts wandered from the Circle, to the attack on the school, to the jet, and then to Preston. _Why does everything have to happen all at once?_

**A/N: How was it? I had you there didn't I? Most of you thought it was the Circle, which it was going to be, but I changed my plans ten minutes ago. Also, the Circle was too predictable. And I also noticed that there weren't any blue eyes in Boston (OMZ) but hey, I posted the chapter in a hurry. Does Preston have blue eyes? Wow… Anyway, I nearly forgot to post this chapter, mostly because I'm on a different time zone right now and most of my readers are in North America and they're reviewing when I'm sleeping and I'm updating when they're sleeping. How lucky. Ok, now I'm going to end this long and pointless author's note so you people can review. And I can stay up late waiting for them. And write the one shot I've been planning. Review Please!**

**-Sami**


	13. The Reuniting

Forever and Always

Chapter 13: The Reuniting

I woke up to the sound of… buzzing? Oh, my phone was switched to vibrating. Great. I got up yawning and kicked the covers back. Stretching a bit before reaching for my phone, I realized who it must be. Macey, of course. Bex would be threatening someone right now and Liz would've hacked right into my laptop. In fact, she probably did.

_Cammie! Rise and shine sweetheart, we're in town, in the limo and we're 60 miles from Paris. Shopping galore, here we come. And you can tell us everything, from the beginning. Just a little friendly catch up._

_Luv,_

_Macey_

Typical Macey. Perfect spelling, but only in her texting. Right, everything slowly registered in my mind, shopping. In Paris. Save me. And they're in town…wait! They're in town already? I jumped out of bed and took a shower in record time and sure enough, just as I sat down for TV before breakfast, the door was flung open and Bex's scream "Cammie!" echoed in the corridor. I pity the people on the same floor as us.

"Bex!" I screamed with equal enthusiasm. We were having our "Yay, Cammie's alive and in France even though she doesn't want to be" party even after their entire luggage was moved in and the boys hung around awkwardly before Zach (when did he get there?) stopped smirking at us and turned the TV on again.

We decided to order room service instead of walking all the way to the breakfast room and discussed covers while eating basically anywhere in the living space.

"Alright, Bex is Beatrice Jackson, and her nickname is Bess which sounds like a cow…" That earned Macey a whack on the head from Bex, "But anyway, that's easy for us. Her boyfriend is Grant, now Jerrold but we call him Jerry. Liz is Angelina Jenkins. We call her Lina? Yeah, Lina. Her boyfriend is Jonas, now Jacob and we call him…Jacob, maybe Jake, we'll check. And I," she paused for dramatic effect, "am your fraternal twin, Cammie, Ceticia Andrews. We're called Let and Cet," she ended in disgust. I laughed.

We continued our breakfast in small talk and it ended up, as it always does with Macey, on shopping. I tuned out just as Zach turned the volume up. Everyone was suddenly serious and Macey had a strange look on her face. I tuned back in for, "Preston Winters, first son of America, still missing. Authorities are still not sure whether it was kidnap or a runaway. The hotel room in the Plaza in New York shows no sign of a struggle, and Secret Service members are guessing that he is longer in the country. Stay tuned after the break," yaddy yaddy ya, Zach turned the TV off.

There was silence until Macey said, "I overheard Mr. Solomon telling Ms. Morgan that you two saw him yesterday?" By the look on her face I knew half of her wanted not to care. Another half wished she could've run away also.

"Yeah, we did." Zach said it a 'no questions' sort of voice. "What are your plans for the day? We're leaving tomorrow."

"Well," Bex said before anyone else could open their mouth. "We'll take the limo to Paris, shopping until…" She looked at Macey who said, "Five o' clock. Then we'll freshen up and decide what to do for dinner."

"Great, we're free till five…" Grant said, grabbing the TV remote again only to have it snatched away by Zach.

"No, we aren't. We're going into town too. I have business to attend to and you two will be attending with me." We laughed as Grant sarcastically muttered something under his breath. I couldn't help but wonder what the business was when Bex and Macey dragged me into the room while Liz followed, still laughing.

"Speak," Bex said, as Macey threw our outfits together. By the time I told them everything; Macey had turned the shower on and was pulled out her make up kit from…her make up bag.

She stood up and stretched and said, "My work here is done, you two are together, Grant and Bex are drooling over each other and Liz and Jonas are taking it nice and easy."

We stared at her and Bex was the first one to recover, "We still have to go shop."

"Right, go take a shower while I do Cammie and Liz's hair."

It was quick; really, we had to be in slight disguise, so Macey decided to make me look 'stunning' and not at all Chameleon-like. She herself wore contacts that make her eyes look like mine and dyed her hair a couple shades lighter. Whatever else she did, she still looked gorgeous. We were still fraternal but we looked like we were related, just enough.

Liz looked up from her laptop just before shutting it and said, "Guys, Abby is part of the search team looking for Preston, she just left Gallagher, thought I'd let you know."

"Oh, she is?" I was surprised. Well, not really, Abby _was _part of the Secret Service. Macey's face hardened again. What was with her today?

"Guys, we're going to reach Paris in a whole hour, might as well not wait any longer," she said, covering up any emotion she had let slip.

Macey's mind seemed to be fully devoted in the shopping I was hardly taking any part of but I couldn't help but be concerned about her. The way Bex and Liz were looking at her, I knew they felt the same way.

After lunch, we were wandering around in the Carrousel du Louvre Mall when I saw the same blue eyes as yesterday. Gazing at a map, and flipping his wallet back and forth, I could see the same Spiderman watch on his wrist. I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed and sure enough, Bex and Liz were nodding at me. I noticed that Macey wasn't there and I swiveled around to find Macey making her way over to the wall he was leaning at. Her face still was still unreadable.

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, cliffy. I'll update tomorrow after I get reviews (reviews being the key word of course). Also, go check out my one shot 'Typical, for a Spy' and tell me if I should turn it into a full story. I think not but I want your opinion. Review please (for the one shot too)! **

**-Sami**


	14. The Threatening

Forever and Always

Chapter 14: The Threatening

I watched, horrified, glued to my place, as Macey made her way over to Preston, purposefully stumbled and bumped into him, straightened up and smiled a smile full of venom. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Preston Winters."

Preston face looked just like Zach's on the train last semester; it changed from confusion to shock to someone desperate for a plan, but when he looked at Macey, it turned back to shock, "Mace?"

"Hell, yeah, it's Mace." She looked angrier than I had ever seen him. "Care to explain this?" she said, gesturing around her.

"Meaning?" he said nonchalantly, looking totally different from the dorky kid in Boston last year.

"Preston," she said through her teeth, "you know perfectly well what I can do with this information."

"It's not like you're here with permission." My head snapped up; what did he know? Macey also looked shocked before she put her mask on again.

"What are you talking about?"

He shrugged. "It's simple isn't it? I go missing, security on you strengthens, and you can no longer go out of the country."

Macey looked utterly satisfied before she replied, "I tell you, you tell me, we tell no one. Deal?"

He considered and said, "Alright, I won't, but it's not my responsibility if someone else does." At this point, half of me wanted to wonder what exactly was meant by that. Another half of me wanted to laugh at how easy this was for us now.

After three minutes Preston had his story out. He had run away, but only until the elections were completely over. He needed a break. I didn't entirely believe it but Macey looked more understanding than I had ever seen her and when he asked her, she said, "My school sent me here without exactly asking the Secret Service." Preston looked annoyed at the lack of detail but he started laughing before he was serious again.

"See you around Macey. Stay safe." Like that's so easy. They nodded at each other and went their own ways. Macey walked over and said, "They sent me here because Cam and Zach were already here and they wanted me out of the Secret Service's way for a while. That's why they didn't tell them."

At first, her theory seemed far fetched but then, it made perfect sense. I also realized that Macey had hardened out again, she was closing up. I had to loosen her up a bit. Liz said, "Should we tell them?" I pondered on it a bit and Macey answered for me.

"Tell Abby. And tell her the whole story, she'll understand."

We drove back in silence, except when Bex called up Abby. When we got there, the boys were already back and we had dinner in a nearby restaurant. The only people who noticed Macey's behavior were me, Bex and Zach.

I couldn't sleep that night, not because of my nightmares, but because of Macey, and sure enough, at 1:43, Macey got up and put on her coat before walking right out of the door. I got up and followed her, running into Zach on the way. "Follow her," he whispered, slipping a tracker into my pocket.

I nodded and slipped on my coat on the way to the lobby and saw Macey sprinting to the backside of the building. I caught up with her before the first turn and she didn't say anything, just kept running, me alongside her. We ran into the park behind the building and she finally stopped and sat down on a bench, not panting at all.

I let her talk first, "I'm tired of this."

"Okay."

"I wish…I wish I wasn't the Senators daughter."

"I know, Mace. But you didn't run away from it."

"Cammie, I swear I was going to. It was getting so…I don't know, but then I found out that we were going to California undercover and that was the next best thing to running away." I watched her, as the Senators daughter, the person who all the girls in America would die to be, confessed everything.

If there was one thing I learned with having friends like my roommates and…Zach, it was that the best way to let go, is to talk about it.

Personally, I was glad that my friend was no longer the target. Being the protector was even harder than being the protected. I got Macey to calm down, at least for the night, and we walked back to our room after that.

Once Macey went back into the room, I told her I needed a coffee (totally true) and that I would come in after some caffeine (apparently not true).

"Zach, you can have your tracker back now," I called, but he already had his arms around me.

"Did she calm down?" he asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Zach, I'd love to stay here doing this all night, but we have to leave tomorrow."

He put on a fake hurt look, and said, "Coffee."

"Right." I said, rolling my eyes, and walking with him over to the kitchen.

Turns out, we fell asleep on the sofa while watching TV, and Macey ran out the next morning holding up my cover and saying, "I have two hours to make you look like this, Cammie! Will you two lovebirds get up?"

**A/N: I'm so sorry! I had a… issue (coughgroundedcough). But anyway, here's your chapter, I'm sorry it sucks but the next chapter is awesome, trust me. Review please!**

**-Sami**


	15. The Switching

Forever and Always

Chapter 15: The Switching

"You have got to be kidding me." Bex's British accent was dripping with amusement as she eyed the cell phone in my hand.

The cell phone, despite being the exact same size, shape, color and model as my phone, wasn't mine. It had gotten switched with some woman who was going on some business trip during a luggage checkpoint at the airport. There wasn't the slightest amount of information on it; it was absolutely new except for one message to a number Liz hadn't bothered to track. It read:

Qual è la chiave?

The message proved was that the woman was Italian and the message translated into "What's the key?" Hardly any meaning.

My roommates were laughing ever since I found out I had the wrong phone, which was three minutes and thirteen seconds ago, after we boarded and were in the air. We were stripping of our outer clothing so that we were wearing simple tank tops and shorts. The boys were choosing movies at the back of the jet.

"You guys done yet?" Grant's voice floated over the screen and made its way to us. We went over and I sank down on the sofa, taking the first deep breath that day. That morning was one morning I never wanted to repeat.

"_I have two hours to make you look like this. Will you two lovebirds get up?" _

_Zach got up and smirked after that and said, "Is it really that hard McHenry?" _

_I laughed as Macey glared at him and I said, "Big mistake Zacho." _

_At that exact moment, Bex and Grant each threw their doors open and said, "Zacho?"_

_Liz and Jonas looked up from their computer terminals not after that and joined in the laughter as Zach put on a pained expression and mouthed "Z-a-c-h-o."_

_Macey was embarrassing everyone during breakfast and I nearly choked on my orange juice from laughing. Four times._

"_Ok, I want you all in your rooms pronto." Macey got up, dragging me and Liz with her. She got Bex in the shower and ran around throwing our outfits together._

_When she was done she called me over and gestured towards the bed. I, expecting the worst, cautiously turned around and saw a light green tank top and very comfortable looking cut off Capri pants that reached just above my knees. I stared and said, "I get to wear this?"_

"_Sure…right under that." She gestured to the other side of the bed. Great, I thought, as a looked at the extremely tight dark wash jeans and an even tighter red sweater. And boots. High heeled boots._

_While Macey was doing my hair, which let me tell you, she should never have to do in a hurry, we each got a message. Liz, who was free at the time, grabbed Bex's phone, which was nearest and read the message aloud to us:_

"_Guys, sorry, but your flight is now leaving in exactly 28 minutes, you might want to get in the car, lots of luv, Abby."_

_And that was the worst and most rushed morning ever._

I sighed as Zach turned the movie on and Bex pulled a bowl of popcorn out of the microwave. "Did anyone turn the system on?"

"I don't think so…" Liz replied just as Grant said, "Hey, Goode, I'm really beginning to like Zacho."

"I'll go check," I said, getting up making my way over to the cock-pit.

Just as I reached for the switch, the phone in my pocket buzzed and I vaguely realized it wasn't mine. But what kind of spy would I be if I didn't check it out? So, out of pure instinct, I pulled the phone out and checked the message. It was written in four different languages and read as follows:

_La clef de __voute__? _

_είναι χαμαιλέοντας_

_Bestellungen sind einfach_

_a fháil a_

I felt a sickening dread rise within me as I translated those words. I was suddenly oblivious to everything around me. Bex's threatening, Grants remarking, Macey's nail filing, Jonas's calculating, Liz's giggling and Zach's audible smirking all added up to nothing as a started at the message.

Macey said something about me and Zach which made Grant whistle and I hardly heard Zach as in an amused-slash-annoyed voice, "I think Cammie has something to say about that."

I knew Bex was wondering where I was and I knew Zach was volunteering to find out, but I still couldn't avert my eyes from the screen of the phone.

"Hey, Gallagher Girl, you have no idea what your friends are cooking up right now."

And as much as I wanted to join in the laughter, as much as I wanted to turn around and say that I did have a very good idea; I couldn't.

I felt Zach turn serious as he walked over and said, "Cammie, wha-."

I wordlessly held the phone up behind my shoulder and he read it once before saying in a hoarse whisper, "No."

Why? Because:

_La clef de voute? _

_είναι χαμαιλέοντας_

_Bestellungen sind einfach_

_a fháil a_

Translated into:

The key to the vault?

It's Chameleon.

My orders are simple.

Get her.

**A/N: I'm exhausted. Anyway, how was it? I really, really liked it for no reason at all but tell me what you think. My heart was racing as I read that message. I mean, the circle wants to kidnap her. How heartbreaking is that? Anyway, review please!**

**-Sami**


	16. The Securing

Forever and Always

Chapter 16: The Tracking

Zach stood there, behind me, staring at the message when we heard Grant voice out his opinion of what was taking us so long. Another round of laughter and a punch from Bex later, Grant walked from behind the screen, talking to Jonas with Bex trailing behind them. "Yeah, Zacho totally goes with him, I love how it relates to wacko, you know what I mean?"

"Grant, first of all, you sound like a girl, and second of all, I like Zach-izzle better." Jonas was irritable. In another dimension, in another body, in another condition, in another country, in an alternate universe, I might have laughed.

"Guys, you're holding up the movie, just say you want to make out all day, and we'll move on," Bex said, rolling her eyes at Grant and Jonas.

That was before she saw the message.

***

Number of minutes it took for everyone to read the message: 17 minutes and 1 second

Number of minutes it would've taken them if they hadn't kept snatching it from each other until Zach finally snatched it back and read it out loud: 1 minute and 17 seconds

Number of minutes everyone was absolutely silent after Zach read the message out loud: 8

Number of people who shouted "What is with the CIA approved planes these days?!" after recovering from the shock: 4

***

"What is with the CIA approved planes these days?!" Zach, Bex, Grant and Macey said while either kicking something-slash-someone or throwing their nail filers up in exasperation.

"Alright, so we're being tracked," Liz said while recording all the information we had in her notebook.

"Liz, it's more than that, we're probably in full control of them right now," Zach said.

Liz looked confused and I elaborated, speaking for the first time, "There's someone in the CIA from the Circle right about now. That explains it, how else would they have interfered with the plane last time?"

"Talk about annoying double agents," Macey mumbled and I laughed shakily.

"So," Liz said, stretching it out, "we do what now?"

"I'll get us off auto-pilot before something happens," he mumbled "again" under his breath before continuing. "Liz and Jonas, keep track of everything within 100 miles radius from here. Grant, try to get the contact system working. Macey, do you have a phone?"

Bex snorted while Macey replied, "Six of them."

"Great, get in contact with someone at Gallagher or the CIA, got it?"

"No," I said, and everyone turned to look at me, "They're closer than we think. We already agreed that they're in the CIA, and chances are, they could be in within the walls of Gallagher right now. They're watching everything. Every phone call, email, fax, town day, mission, anything, they'll know about it."

Zach pondered it a bit before nodding and saying, "So our best chance is…"

"…Abby, the most paranoid agent of the century a.k.a Mr. Smith, or _maybe_ someone at Blackthorne. Or Mr. Solomon, but only as a last resort. He and my mom are probably the most closely watched right now."

He nodded again before tossing his phone to Macey and saying, "Try Abby first, then Mr. Smith and then any Blackthorne numbers in there."

Bex then held up the phone with the message and said in her British accent," I take it Cammie and I have to get as much information with this before those bloody (let's just say what she said here wasn't very nice. Or lady-like) find out that the phones got switched?"

He nodded and said, "Wait, exactly how much information can they get from Cammie's phone?"

Macey yawned and said, "None. This is a Liz's security we're talking about. Passwords, voice recognition, fingerprint scanning, you name it."

Liz blushed and said, "In fact, if they try repeatedly, it'll shut off completely."

Zach nodded while Jonas smiled and said, "Alright, then, Cammie and Bex, try to find out as much as you can before they realize. Grant, cockpit."

"Alright, but dude, I'm having a serious caffeine shortage."

I didn't try to laugh. No one would believe it anyway.

Fifteen minutes and sixty one seconds later:

Zach was done, saying he couldn't fly the darned thing much longer and that's when Macey finally got hooked up to some eighth grader and was screaming at him to get on the line with Dr. Steve. He apparently was so elated that it was a girl who wasn't hanging up soon that listening wasn't in his plans.

Liz and Jonas had a record of everything within 113 miles radius and claimed that they could be doing 125 in the next five minutes.

Grant: no such luck.

Bex and I had a lot of information. They were planning on disrupting the plane in another hour, trying to do so before "the little brats suspected something." They also knew a lot, which didn't surprise me.

I realized something shortly afterwards. That they knew about everyone close to me. I also realized the real seriousness of the situation. They were close and they wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone willing to protect me. All I knew was that that was happening, _over my dead body._

**A/N: Absolute filler. But it was necessary. Tell me how it was. Oh, and some people asked me when I'm finishing this. In answer that, I have no idea. I'll let you know when I do. Oh, and I won't be replying to reviews these days, any important stuff will be said here. Oh, and ideas welcome. **

**-Sami**


	17. The Landing

Forever and Always

Chapter 17: The Landing

Eventually, Macey hung the phone up, screamed at Zach for knowing such useless people and sat down, huffing. Liz and Jonas were now doing more than radii; they had a view of the ground below us, along with a rear view. Grant finally got on but there was no one nearby.

"Joe? Joe!" Zach said, moving over to the screen.

"Zach? Finally…" Abby said, looking and sounding tired.

"Ok, right now, we just got a message on this phone that Cam-."

"We know, we know, but Joe has some crazy idea that you won't agree with. I'll get him, wait. JOE!" Wow, how professional Aunt Abby. At that moment, Liz called me over. There were two helicopters right behind us. I wouldn't have noticed they were there if Liz hadn't zoomed in on them. Great.

"Yes? You called Abby?"

She moved away, making way for Mr. Solomon and saying, "Have fun convincing them."

"Alright Zach, I want you listen and do what I say, it's as simple as that. As you found out three seconds ago, there are two helicopters right behind you. What you have to do is land."

"No."

"Zach, look…"

"We have two helicopters behind us who are bound to make every move we make, do anything, just to keep us within range and you want me to land? In this isolated place in…Nebraska? Isn't Nebraska where…?"

Before he could reply, the phone buzzed again. I pulled it out of my pocket and felt every ones eyes on me.

_Prepare to die, Ms. Morgan._

No code, different language, no anything. Just plain English was what told me that we had to do what Mr. Solomon said.

I nearly laughed as I held the phone up, so every one could read. "No choice now, is there?"

"They knew all along?" Bex said incredulously.

Mr. Solomon looked oddly satisfied before he said, "No, more like just found out."

"This was definitely planned. How else would they make us land _exactly_ where Cammie's grandparents are?"

At this, he shook his head and said, "No, it's more of a lucky coincidence. Although I don't know where they come in, they have got to be needed in someway."

And just like that, I considered surrendering. Giving myself up was better than taking a chance like this. Zach saw my expression and squeezed my hand before whispering, "Nothing you say is going to stop any of us, you know."

I felt like screaming. But I glanced at the rear view Liz had set up on her laptop and I saw how close they were now. No longer was there need to zoom in.

Abby came in and said, "Alright, no landing. More like, jumping off with a parachute." Bex nearly squealed, making me smile slightly.

"We know there about…sixteen?! Yes, sixteen people in both the helicopters. So, when you jump off, the jet will keep going, your luggage or whatever else you have in there will be dropped off. Nearest CIA station is where you have to go. The CIA decided to be _so smart _so for some reason, so you have back-up at Cammie's grandparents' house. Pretty isolated area, but you're going to have to jump off about a mile away. Imagine their surprise when you come running with six other teenagers and sixteen masked men behind you, Cammie," she rolled her eyes while saying this.

"Ok…so we jump…when?" Bex asked, not even trying to hide the excitement in her eyes.

"I don't now, I'll tell you, get your parachute." She said it as if she jumped off jet's and landed in her grandparents' house with sixteen masked men behind her. Which I'm actually pretty sure she had done at least once in her life.

"Quick question, Abby," Liz asked timidly, after everyone had there parachute, and Macey was complaining about how here hair would get messed up. She was terrified, and fear flashed in her eyes as she continued, "Why don't we just keep going since the jet is going to the CIA headquarters anyway?"

"Oh, right, it's because if you don't jump within the next five minutes, they're blowing it up. If the plane doesn't have Cammie and Zach…and Macey, maybe, then they're not wasting time blowing it up."

Liz gawked before saying, "Oh."

"Any other questions?" Abby asked, not really meaning it as Mr. Solomon said something in the distance.

Abby turned away to listen and that's when the doors opened, cold air filling the jet, Liz backed away slowly, obviously scared. I picked at my pendant.

"That's your cue guys."

Grant went first and Bex eagerly followed, leaving Macey to let go of her hair and sigh, before following. Jonas looked at Liz and she motioned him to go on backing away more, and after a moment's hesitation, he jumped. I motioned Liz out and her expression changed to complete fright. She shook her head.

Zach appeared and said, "Jump, Cam, I'll get her out." But I wasn't going to leave my sister behind.

"Liz," I said, "We jump together."

She nodded, and grabbed my hand as I turned to Zach, "You had better jump three seconds after I do, no more."

I didn't wait for a reply and jumped, pulling Liz down with me. I let go of her hand after, so our parachutes wouldn't collide and used the week of training in CoveOps in how to control a parachute. I went down, faster than Liz and caught up with Jonas and saw Grant and Bex already fighting 800 feet below us. I looked up and saw Liz but something was terribly wrong. Zach had already jumped and his parachute was already up, but Liz's parachute wasn't opening.

I froze, as I saw my delicate, genius, roommate and sister fall through the air, the wind blowing in my hair, no harness to hold her, no parachute to slow her down, and only guns below to help her land.

**A/N: Cliffy. Whoot. JSYK, this isn't a story where no one miraculously (wink wink xJamesBondx) dies. Even though I love them very much. I may, or may not kill Liz. Ok, I read that again, and that is a very nasty cliffy. And, in the last chapter, I said, 15 minutes and **_**61**_** seconds in the last part. I wanted to see how carefully you guys read. Only one person caught it. And I was also asked about sneak peeks but I update pretty much everyday so, chances are, by the time you read it, the next chapter will already be up. Oh, and I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday and even more sorry that I may not update tomorrow. School, enough said. But, if I get 180 reviews, I'll try my best. I know trying is lame but review anyway. **

**-Sami**


	18. The Surviving

Forever and Always

Chapter 18: The Surviving

I saw Liz, falling through the air, so scared that she couldn't make a sound, whimpering. I wanted nothing more than to scream into comms unit and call backup, vaguely remembering that I didn't have one. That backup was 650 feet below us, and a mile away into the night.

Zach was 150 feet above us, I wasn't even sure he had noticed. I took one look at Jonas and I saw the determination in his eyes, calculating length and speed and after what felt like an hour, he moving to the right slightly, towards me, Liz coming closer, screaming now.

She grew closer, and Jonas looked at me, and I finally figured out what he wanted to do. I moved closer and pulled out a rope from the parachute, just as Liz fell between the space between our parachutes. She came, closer and closer when Jonas grabbed her; I heard her shuddering sigh off relief as I tied the rope to her and to our parachutes somehow…awkwardly, let me say.

Liz clung to Jonas the whole way down, but I was too preoccupied to think, "aw, cute". A couple feet to the ground, I tore the rope of my parachute and told Jonas to take Liz and run, before running to join the others. Backup was less than half a mile away; we had to get to them some way…alive.

There weren't too many guns out. If they used them, then only to try and injure someone, they had no desire to kill anyone and I remembered that they needed me alive. I ran right through them, distracting them for a moment from Macey. I identified the leader of the group easily; he was the same person who had recognized Zach last semester. Three men were already unconscious, but Grant and Macey didn't look too good. Bex was ok, until I realized she was slightly limping.

I felt an arm on my shoulder, and I stepped into the move, trying to flip him over, but he had other plans. He pulled back, swiveled me around, and attempted to knock me unconscious. I punched him with my free arm, feeling the crack of a broken nose, and broke away, sidestepped him, and managed to knock him unconscious with his own Napotine patch.

I took another look around and saw the leader mouth point to me and say, "I want her, dead or alive. Do whatever it takes."

And that's when I knew. I had to get everyone out of there. But before I could act, more guns were out and were being shot with hardly any precision. Backup was now in sight, they were running towards us. My grandparents were in that house, I realized, and I felt great surge of annoyance at the CIA,

My one second of distraction caused another round of gunshots and I turned around, just as a man raised his gun, and pulled at the trigger. Before I could do anything, I was pushed to the ground, and I could almost see the bullet soar over me. Zach. He stood up, looking perfectly ready to take a bullet as I saw Macey reach safety, and I knew perfectly well that she would never forgive herself if someone got hurt while she was standing next to the van provided by the CIA.

I grabbed Zach's hand, and we ran, after Bex and Grant, leaving the fighting abandoned. We ran half the perimeter around the house and I heard another gun. I turned back, but Zach grabbed me. There was the same masked man, their leader, standing right there, another van with its door open.

The shooting was still going on at the other side of the building, but I was oblivious to it all as he sneered at Zach and said, "I knew it, Goode." I turned to look at him, but he was already pushing me to safety, six CIA agents around me. The man took one last look at me, and then the guns in their hands and climbed into the van. I thought it was over, as we ran towards the van door, where everyone was already, but I heard the guns again.

At that moment, I thought that the CIA couldn't have made a worse decision. The van still hadn't left, the CIA spread out again. At this, they started the van, and I found Bex beside me. They shot again, shooting right for Bex this time. I instinctively pushed her aside, but one of the CIA had already taken the bullet. I heard the rising and falling of the gun sound, the revving of the car skidding away, but I ignored it, and put my whole attention at the CIA agent.

I've lost a father, I've seen these exact people shoot my aunt, I've seen her lifeless body on an asphalt in DC and I've had my mother leave the school doing "errands" knowing that she may not come back. But none of that could've stopped my knees from giving away as I saw the face of the person who had given his life to save me. As soon as I saw it, I heard Bex gasp and rush to his side before turning to Grant for comfort.

And as I felt myself sink to my knees, Zach's hand on my shoulder, I could only whisper, "Mr. Baxter…"

***

That night, I felt horrible. We had all held Bex while she cried, especially me, since I knew exactly what she was feeling at the time. Zach was quiet the whole time, definitely mourning. But I couldn't help but feel out of place, as Bex, the toughest girl in the school, the one who was afraid of needles, but could take on multiple men in a fist fight, cried.

After Grant persuaded Bex to get some sleep, they all dozed of, somewhere in her room. I snuck out. Outside there was a hallway leading to all our rooms and a refrigerator, coffee machine and vending machine on the other end, which lead to a balcony.

I grabbed a bowl of cookie dough ice cream, and walked out the balcony in my tank top and baggy plaid pajamas. I sat down and dug into it, blaming myself with every spoonful. I remembered the day I found out my father went missing. I had hoped that nobody ever felt the way I did then. Ever. And here I was, the cause if my best friend's dad's death. I mushed the ice cream around the bowl until it was smoothie.

"What did the ice cream ever do to you?" I heard a sad, yet amused voice behind me. My spy senses detected smirking. I didn't reply.

He sighed and sat downed next to me. Ok, Zach Goode does not sigh…it was more of…letting out a breath. "It's not your fault Gallagher Girl."

"Sure it isn't." I started turning the ice cream into water. He grabbed my spoon.

"No, it isn't. And if it was, then it would be equally my fault. They're after both of us."

I knew that tone. "You know something."

"I know a lot of things. Spy." Do I even have to say he pointed to himself?

"Zach, what do you know?"

"Gallagher Girl, I've said this before and I'm saying it again, there are some things you don't want to know."

"Zach…that stopped being an option for me in DC."

He sat there for a moment before turning to me. "Do you know that your dad was killed by these people?"

I shivered. He moved closer. "I guessed."

"Well, the reason they're after you is because they want something your father wouldn't give them. You're the only…key."

I nodded slowly. "And where do you come in?"

He kissed me before saying, "They killed my parents too." He got up and walked back.

"That just raise ten million more questions," I called.

"That's my job," came floating back. I smiled.

**A/N: No authors note. Review please!!**

**-Sami**


	19. The Recovering

Forever and Always

Chapter 19: The Recovering

Zach left and I smiled for what felt like the first time in centuries. Leaving the puddle which used to be ice cream, I walked to Bex's room to check on her. Liz and Macey were on the two sofas and Jonas was in the armchair. Grant was on the floor next to bed. The bed was empty.

"I'm fine Chameleon."

I swiveled around and raised my eyebrows at Bex. "What are you doing awake?"

"Ok, rewind. Pause. I say, 'I'm fine Chameleon' and you nod. Ok, play."

I stared and then nodded once.

"Good, and then I say, 'You aren't fine, are you?' and you tell me what the matter is."

I sighed and sat down in a chair out in the hall. She followed and sat down on the arm rest. I didn't say anything. After what felt like an hour, I turned to her tear-stained face and opened my mouth, not really expecting words to come out, but she cut me off.

"It isn't your fault. Any of it."

"Yes it is, Bex. I can't believe…" The words came out by themselves. I had no control of them.

"No it isn't Cammie. And do you think that Dad will ever rest in peace if he knew you were blaming yourself?"

"Guilt trip?"

"My last resort."

I sighed. "I'm sorry Bex."

"It's alright. Besides, he wouldn't want me to shut myself away, would he?"

"No, he wouldn't."

"And you didn't when your father went missing."

"Well…I had time after it happened. You could've just asked for it."

"Why would I? When I have you guys?"

I smiled and hugged her. After a while she broke off and said, "Stop getting emotional Chameleon. I've cried enough for one night."

***

I woke up when someone walked into my room and turned the lights on. I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. It was still about four.

"Rise and shine Gallagher Girl."

I didn't. Until I felt the covers being wrenched off me. I put my pillow over my head. He made an exasperated sound and pulled it off. "Get up Gallagher Girl."

"Make me."

"If you insist…"

My eyes flew open. He was two inches away from my face. Smirking. I pushed him off.

"What do you want?"

"We're leaving. Again. Thankfully, this plane is not CIA."

"Great. When?"

"Now."

"No."

"Fine, I'll get Macey. Maybe she did find a hair curler after all."

"I hate you."

"Ouch, Gallagher Girl, that's a strong word." He held up his wrist. Which held a nonexistent watch. "Five minutes."

He left and I showered and brushed, not even trying to be fast. I had no cover to live up to so I dressed in plain jeans and a green shirt, and put on earrings so Macey wouldn't kill me. Macey approved.

"Camster! You look like my roommate!"

I rolled my eyes. "Where's everyone else?"

"Breakfast."

"And you're…"

"Not at breakfast."

"No kidding."

"I'm not hungry. I don't do breakfast, remember?

Something clicked. I ignored it.

"Ok…see you on the plane?"

"Yeah."

But as she left, I couldn't help but get the feeling that she knew something. And that she didn't like it.

"Morning Cam!" Liz said. The rest of them acknowledged me in some way and I sat down.

"Good morning. I thought we were leaving right 'now."

"Yeah, Gallagher Girl. See, 'now' has a lot of meanings…"

"Sure it does." I reached for a waffle.

"Yes. It does." He grabbed it before me.

Liz made a note of it. On her napkin. I rolled my eyes again.

About half an hour later, we boarded, but two people were already on it. Macey was screaming. "MY LIFE WAS ALREADY A BAD SOAP OPERA BEFORE YOU CAME IN!"

Preston Winters.

Bad soap opera? Tell me about it.

**A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews! Can I have 200 now? Please? I was going to let Preston fade miserably in the sunset…but that would've been lame. Review please!**

**-Sami**


	20. The Interrogating

Forever and Always

Chapter 20: The Interrogating

There were eight seats in the jet and Macey ended up sitting next to Preston. She sat there, silently huffing until the jet was in the air. Then she wrenched her seat belt of and contacted switched the contact system on.

"Abby!" she screamed. Abby was the only one in sight, putting on a coat and talking on the phone. Macey screamed again.

She turned around and flipped of her phone. She walked over and before Macey could open her mouth, she said, "Sorry Mace, but I have a plane to catch right now. Ask Preston why he's there and he'll tell you. I have to get to Mongolia in six hours. Six hours!" Her phone rang again and she didn't even look into it before saying, "Five minutes. Later than that and I'll kill you for waking me up so early." She turned back to Macey and said, "Talk to Joe in a couple of hours. I have to go. Six hours!" She muttered darkly under her breath and stalked off, leaving a flabbergasted Macey behind.

"You! Winters…!" she turned on Preston, who suddenly became very interested in a examining a hangnail. "Talk. Now."

He took a long breath and said, "Fine. First off, I was admitted into Blackthorne this year for the same reasons you were admitted into Gallagher."

"You're…Blackthorne's descendant?"

"No, heir."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Liz asked.

"No. The real Blackthorne line apparently died out years ago. Some great, great granddaughter of his picked her husbands line to keep it going after she died. Her husband didn't have any children but his sister did. She had two sons and a daughter. I'm one of the son's descendants."

"Who's the other son's descendant?" Bex asked, suddenly interested. Only I noticed when Zach looked away.

"He is," Preston gestured towards Zach.

"Great," Zach said emotionlessly, "we're cousins."

"And the daughters?" Liz asked, after everyone recovered from the shock.

Preston didn't say anything. Zach spoke up.

"Gertrude and Phyllis Cavan."

"What?!" I heard myself say. "No…Cavan?"

"Yes, Cavan. Her daughter ran away when she was sixteen and married Ioseph Cavan's great grandson. They thought it would be a one way ticket to something the Cavan wanted, but his plan didn't work. After she had a son, they killed her and let the Cavan lines keep going."

"Alright, so you, Preston, me and Cammie are who they're after. Where does Cammie come in?" Macey asked.

"We don't know. But she's the one they want the most. The three of us are…bonuses, you could say."

"And what do they want?" I asked, feeling angry.

"We don't know," he said, before adding under his breath, "but we _will_ find out."

"And you knew?" I said, getting angrier.

"Yes. But face it; don't you think you were better off not knowing?"

I sat down on the metal armrest of a seat and sighed. I looked around at the faces of my friends, the ones I would die for. Zach looked angry, Preston was emotionless, Macey was satisfied, Liz was scared, Jonas looked annoyed for not looking up Ioseph Cavan's earlier, Grant looked like he was still working the tree out and Bex looked excited. I sighed again.

Everyone sat in silence for a while before Macey turned to Preston and said, "We need to work matters out. Get up." After they disappeared behind the screen at the back Grant turned to Bex and said, "Can we work matters out?" I rolled my eyes, not interested in watching them trade spit and stalked off to the cockpit, saying "I miss the color blue," vaguely aware of Zach following me.

I stared at the rear view screen and after a while, I thought that if I stared any longer, blue would become my least favorite color. So I turned around and blurted, "How did you know?"

"Sources."

I felt like punching him. "Which are…?"

He looked at the screen this time and ran a hand through his hair before saying, "The Cavan itself."

"Details, Zach. I need them."

"You know the guy who recognized me last year?"

"Yeah…and yesterday?"

He grimaced. "Yeah, him. Phyllis Cavan."

I opened my mouth, not knowing which of the ten million questions to ask first but he said, "That's all you get now."

"I feel like killing you." He smirked. We stood there for a while. There was complete silence on the plane and after what felt like years, he stepped towards me and said, "So…do you wanna work some matters out?"

Despite everything, the plane ride was suddenly so much shorter.

**A/N: This chapter seriously came out of nowhere. I started typing and just kept going and the outcome worked out. Whoohoo. Sorry if the whole family tree thing was confusing though. Thanks for reviewing everyone! 220 reviews! I'm so happy. Can we have…240? And sorry for not updating yesterday. I wanted to give you guys a chappie today because I won't update for the next couple of days. I think. Ok, bye.**

**-Sami**


	21. The Reasoning

**A/N: I highly recommend reading the CoveOps lesson in Chapter 21 of "Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover" before this chapter. If you don't want to, or can't, then it's no biggy, don't worry.**

Forever and Always

Chapter 21: The Reasoning

As usual, after a quarter of an hour, I broke away. I still felt like killing him. And, being a spy, I could totally do it with nearly everything on the plane.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He smirked. "There are six reasons anyone does anything. It's got to be one of them. I wonder which."

"Yeah, sure. What is almost tied to why right?" At that something on the back of my mind seemed to surface, but I couldn't make out what it was. "Faith and greed and all that stuff."

Suddenly, a piece of the puzzle fell into place. Six reasons…six reasons…I gasped. "Six reasons."

Zach pretended to look shocked. Then he laughed and shook his head.

"I told you Joe, no use hiding it from her, she'll find out anyway. But no. You had to keep it hidden."

"Shut up, I'm telling the others, I need Liz's genius mind."

"Have fun."

I rolled my eyes, knowing he'd make his entrance at some random time while I was explaining my theory to everyone else. Grabbing various making out couples from various places in the plane, I made them sit down on the couch (more like tossed them onto the couch) and stood in front of the room behind the screen. Grant and Bex started bickering about their Doritos.

"You took one of mine. You already had a whole pack."

"But I wanted yours."

"You could've just switched packs then."

"Then yours would become mine and mine would become yours. It's still the same case." Bex looked amused. I threw pillows at them. Hard.

"Cammie? If you hadn't looked like you'd figured something out, I would've killed you for this." Bex was angry.

"Yes, I did figure something out." Bex perked up.

"What? Spit it."

"Remember, Bex, how they aren't an old threat?"

"Yeah, um…Ioseph was responsible for the first attempted assassination of Abraham Lincoln. So?"

"So. You want to know what they want, don't you? Well, what is tied to why…"

"We had this lesson months ago!"

"Then you'd be able to tell me what the six reasons anyone does anything are."

"Love, faith, greed, boredom, fear and…revenge."

Liz gasped. I continued, "Which of the six do you think caused them to…do what they're doing?"

"Greed?" Jonas asked and Preston nodded. "They want something don't they?"

"That's one of them, I know it. But any idea where I come in?" Zach walked on that exact moment, holding a pen. He leaned against the wall and started making clicking noises with it. I rolled my eyes.

"They want something, obviously, point taken. But why us? Why Gallagher?" I wanted to add 'Why me?' but I didn't. Everyone was blank. Bex and Grant looked as if whatever the reason was, they wanted to kill them, no matter what it took. Liz and Jonas were both calculating, both gathering up the notes they had on the subject. Macey and Preston had an innocent curiosity within them, both having shared a part of the story. I sat down.

Zach's pen started clicking faster, as if to indicate time or speed, or even the gears whirring inside their heads. And then, as soon as he stopped, everyone seemed to have stopped wondering. Everyone had the answer. Everyone knew that despite what I said, the words had indeed been meant about me. Everyone knew why.

My dad.

"He probably knew," Liz whispered. "Your dad knew about it?"

"Yeah, it explains why. Of course, it couldn't only be my dad…" I was talking about Zach's parents but I let it go. No one noticed.

"So, your dad…prevented them from getting something they wanted." It was Grant who spoke up this time. Keep stating the obvious Grant. Zach kept on going with the pen, this time grasping it with both hands. "And on top of all that, they want Macey, Preston and Zach because of something Gallagher and Blackthorne did. Most likely related to what happened after Ioseph was caught during attempting to kill Lincoln."

"Yeah." Zach was now twisting the pen. It was making squeaking noises.

"So…this is greed for the thing they want and…" Liz stopped, because we all knew that the only way that sentence could end was badly. In one word.

Zach stepped away from the wall and sat down beside me. He looked at the pen in such a way that I thought it would snap. And it did. Zach threw the broken pen pieces down and stood up, saying:

"Revenge."

**A/N: Don't try to figure it out. You won't succeed. Or maybe you will. Answers will be given in the next 2-5 chapters. Probably 2. Most likely 5. Wow, I'm cruel. Anyway, here's the family tree in a simpler (I think) form.**

**Gillian Gallagher had a descendant/heir. Macey. End of story. **

**Whoever Blackthorne. Ok, I'm taking Brian Blackthorne, so deal with it. So, he had a great grand daughter, whose sister in law kept the line going because of her will. The sister in law had a daughter and two sons. One of the son's descendants is Preston. The other son's descendant is Zach. That's the easy part. The daughter ran away when she was sixteen. She married Ioseph Cavan's great grandson because the Cavan saw benefit from it. Their plan did not work. They killed her after she had a son. She has two descendants. Phyllis and Gertrude CAVAN. No offense to the Phyllis's and Gertrude's of the world. Beginning of the end of story. **

**If you still don't get it, PM me I guess.**

**Ok, I asked for 240 reviews in the last chapter, I didn't think I'd get them. But I did! Thanks you all so so so much. Ok, I want 260 this time. Thanks. Wow…241 reviews…you guys are awesome. **

**Ok, bye.**

**-Sami**


	22. The Socializing

Forever and Always

Chapter 22: The Socializing

It took us three seconds. Three seconds to become someone else as soon as we stepped of the jet. One drop of a hat, and we were lugging our luggage of the plane, just like any other group of high school students in California for a school project. Three seconds, and the plane ride never happened. That's the life of a spy. I sighed. I've been doing that a lot lately.

I looked up and saw Bex and Grant having no trouble living up to their covers.

Grant sighed, (yes, I know, _Grant, _sighed) and put his arm around Bex's shoulder while saying, "You know, Bess, last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself…," he paused dramatically and let out another breath, "I thought to myself…where the heck is the ceiling?"

He cautiously looked at Bex who smiled a tight lipped smile, turning red. He whipped his hand off, but not quickly enough. Bex punched the same arm, as hard as she dared with her girly cover.

This made Grant mumble something under his breath. Which made Bex punch him again. Not with her normal force of course. He put on a fake pained expression and hung back with me and Zach.

"Life was so much easier when girls were pink fluff balls with cooties."

Jonas turned around, laughing. "That was yesterday." Grant scowled as Bex whipped around.

"I need a miracle now, Jo," He whispered to Jonas.

"Will Jerrold Santiago and Jacob Nguyen please report to the nearest information center," an emotionless voice rang around the airport.

Grant Newman looked away form his fuming girlfriend and gazed heavenwards, thanking God. Before realizing he had no idea where the nearest information center was.

***

We got out of the car around late evening. Turns out that Grant and Jonas were needed for getting keys to the car and house, along with directions. The car was a pretty big SUV; they avoided having us use different vehicles. We were all tired and grumpy and wanted to sleep for three days straight. We walked in and threw the luggage on the couches, going back for more after five minutes.

"Good evening. You must be our new neighbors!" Now, let me tell you, I have no desire to socialize with lady's next door when I could be sleeping. But my cover loves to meet new people. I grumpily turned to the lady and saw a middle-aged woman, probably the age of Abby. Except for one thing: Abby looked ten years younger than she really was. This woman did…not.

"Good evening. Yes we are. My name is Leticia Andrews and this is my twin, Ceticia," I said, grabbing Macey, who was nearest.

"Well nice to meet you. I'm Molly Hendryx. It's always great to meet new faces around town. Come over once you've settled in."

"Thank you, Ms. Hendryx, but we have to go…"

"Of course, but please. Call me Molly."

I smiled and turned to examine the house. I didn't feel sleepy anymore, but everyone was heading in. From the outside, the house was big but not too big. Three stories. One held the kitchen, living space, dining room and extra bedroom. The second floor had four big rooms and not much else. The third was an absolute spy area with a balcony. It was just one room, with all necessary equip. It could turn into a modern day library with the touch of a button.

I walked inside, feeling wide awake, and irritable towards this Molly person. I stepped all the way upstairs after getting coffee from the kitchen and hung around the balcony.

"Hey Gallagher Girl."

"Hey," I answered absentmindedly.

"Meet anyone around town in the few minutes we've been here?"

"Stop stalking me." I yawned. Thank you Zach, I feel sleepy again. Hallelujah.

He smirked. "Didn't like her do you?"

"Just an annoying town person isn't she?"

He nodded. "Just checking."

"What?"

"Nothing." Smirk.

"I'm going to sleep."

"No, you aren't."

"Yes…I am."

"Wanna bet?" What is wrong with this guy?

"Sure, how much."

He smirked more and leaned closer, now three centimeters away from me. Two centimeters. One and a half. "You know how much." His breath was warm against my face.

I tried to keep my breath steady. "I do?"

He kissed me. Of course. After another hour, he broke away.

"Good night Gallagher Girl." I watched him descend down the stairs. When I found my voice I called, "I still don't know how much."

That was the day I learned that smirks are audible. I heard one with my own ears.

**A/N: I love you all. For no reason. Writing Zammie does weird stuff to me. I like strawberry custard, yes I do, I like strawberry custard, how about you? On most Christmas lights: For indoor and outdoor use only. (As apposed to…what?) I have always wondered where the ceiling was whenever I read, "Last night I lay in bed looking at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself…" So I added it in the story. It seemed like a Grant-y thing to say. I think. Ok, review please. And maybe I'll give you details on when the story's ending. Yes, it's ending soon. Yes, there'll a sequel. Yes, I like pizza. And yes, I…ok, enough. Bye.**

**-Sami**


	23. The Suspecting

Forever and Always

Chapter 23: The Suspecting

Life had become easier. And more boring but I wasn't complaining. We had a maid for cooking and normal house chores who was in the house all day, so we had to live up to our covers in the house also and I know you won't believe me, but that is tough.

People around the neighborhood were now familiar with us and Liz and Jonas were in charge of the nonexistent high school project. Something about the silicon around this area and their chemical and electrical reactions to stuff.

After about a week and a half of the same routine, and as Bex slowly healed from the death of her father, Grant, Zach and Preston came home from the jog they had each evening with an invitation. To Molly Hendryx's house. For dinner.

I didn't say anything as Macey and Bex dragged me upstairs to make me look casual yet formal yet hot yet cute and whatever else Macey wanted to achieve. It worked. We were at here door in the next twenty minutes.

"Ok, Zach, keep your arm around her, you both love that, and Grant, have a pick up line ready. Always. Macey, a bit more carefree…ok, I think we're set. Ring it," Liz said, rattling of our covers nervously.

"Good evening," Molly said ecstatically, making me think of an older version of DeeDee, "So glad you all could make it. Come in."

I pasted a smile across my face as we stepped over the threshold and hung our unnecessary coats up. Molly looked at my expression, seemed to be satisfied- a little too satisfied, which Zach did notice- and led us into the dining room.

"So," Molly, who apparently lived alone, said over the clanging of silverware, "How long are you here?"

"As long as necessary," Bex said smoothly. "Lina and Jake aren't exactly sure, and without them, we're nothing," Bex said and paused while Molly laughed, "so, it could be anywhere from a month to a year."

"I see. So which school are you all from? Not to be nosy or anything, but I'm not so sure that a normal public school would allow students to have such luxuries for the purposes of a project…"

I choked on my steak silently. School…what had Mr. Solomon said about our cover school? All around the table, I saw everyone frantic, only such that a spy could see. Molly was still silently waiting for an answer.

I choked again when Liz, who had memorized eight entire covers along with everything about our covers, whimpered. Zach rubbed my back and said, "Kingston Memorial Boarding Institute. It's in Nebraska, grades six to eleven."

We all nodded and continued eating when really, we were thanking Zach. I looked at Molly. She looked like she was…gloating? No, trick of the light. Since when do I convince myself about tricks of the light? I shook of the feeling and started on my mashed potatoes.

Preston suddenly felt the need to say something so he cleared his throat and said, "Enough about us, what does a lovely lady like you do to spend her time?" I nearly smiled but I saw Macey smiling at Preston, the faintest smile. Hardly even a year, probably, and Preston Winters was composed, ready with his questions, and ready to save his cover. Zach looked like he didn't mind that he was his cousin.

"Oh, not much. I actually moved away from here last year, only came back a few months ago, around the time when Macey McHenry was attacked in Boston." We all stopped chewing for a while, but continued. "I garden, and read. Used to work for the community center a few blocks down, but I got a job at the library. I visit my sisters in downtown on Sundays. How do you all like it here?"

I knew it was a simple question but it felt like she was deliberately cornering us, waiting to pounce on us just when we ran out of stuff our covers could save us for.

"It's great," I said, realizing that I hadn't said a word since I arrived. "Much more lively than Nebraska. Less landscapes of nothing too." Molly laughed again, a tinkling laugh that could've even been fake.

"Oh, I once met someone named Christopher Morgan; he worked for the government in some way. He also loved liveliness. He's a lot like you in many ways, Leticia."

I nearly cried. Zach noticed and steered the conversation around to studies and school. But I couldn't join in. It was all too suspicious for me. How did this person know my father?

Everyone laughed, everyone talked, everyone ate, but I knew, that all seven of my closest friends were wondering the same thing. Who exactly is this person?

I studied her. I studied her as a spy would study a civilian, as a spy would study someone walking on the street, as a spy would study a lady, as a spy would study a townsperson, but I didn't get anything.

I took in her every word, every freckle on her nose, and every faded pimple on her cheek, everything about her.

And I noticed that her laugh really was fake. As was her nose…as was her hair. She had worn a blonde wig and dyed it so no one could tell. I nearly grabbed her by the arms and tied her to the chair to interrogate her.

But finally, I had a satisfying answer.

I had studied her as a spy would study anything, but I had forgotten to expect the unexpected. It had taken me nearly an hour to study as what I needed to. I studied her as a spy would study a spy. A suspected spy.

And that night, when Zach draped his coat over my shoulder on the walk back because my sweater was too thin, I stopped. And looked at him, causing everyone else to stop and turn to look at me.

That night, when we walked back home from dinner at an unsuspected civilian's house, I met each of my friends gazes and I knew. I knew that they knew. And right then…I knew.

Molly Hendryx was a spy. A fully trained operative.

And we hadn't known about her.

**A/N: So sorry for not updating for four days. Or five, I lost track. How was it? No, really. Ok, two more chapters. And the last chapter's a huge cliffy thing. I think, I haven't written it. I'll try to get both of them up this weekend. Then I'm taking a break for a week or two. Sorry. Yes, Molly is a big character. Yes, she is evil. Yes, she is good. Yes, she is from the Cavan. Yes, she is from the CIA. Yes, yes, yes, to all your questions. All of them. And no, she isn't a double agent. So yeah, you cross everything out and you get nothing! No answers. Even I haven't decided whether Molly is supposed to be good or bad. If she's good, she'll turn into a big character. If she's bad, I'll torture her. Simple as that. But it will be wrapped up in the next chapter. Now, I want three hundred reviews by the end of this. Please. And I need enough reviews to satisfy me for an update. Ok, bye.**

**-LeSaz (yes, my virtual name has changed.)**


	24. The Finalizing

Forever and Always

Chapter 24: The Finalizing

That night, all I could do was climb up the steps to the third floor balcony and stare at the long stretch of isolated land in front of the building.

These were some of the questions I had hoped to get answers to soon…but probably wouldn't:

Who was Molly Hendryx?

How does she know my Dad?

Is she really a spy?

Who exactly is she?

_Why_ is the Cavan after me?

Why _is_ the Cavan after me?

Why is the _Cavan_ after me?

Why is the Cavan after _me_?

Why?

And sure enough, I think this list up so that I don't have to ponder over the fact that I don't have any answers when I hear a smirk-hinted voice behind me.

"What're you thinking about, Gallagher Girl?"

I didn't turn around but let him walk over and lean on the railing beside me. We stood like that for a while and I realized that he didn't need an answer. So I turned around and for lack of something better to say, asked him the tenth question of my list. "What would life be like if, "I paused and gestured towards nothing before continuing, "if all of this hadn't happened?"

Zach glanced at me and looked up. This part of the city wasn't as polluted so you could see the stars clearly. It felt like nothing could go wrong up there, but I watched him. I watched the light dancing in his eyes, the stars reflected of him, his messy hair ruffled in the breeze. It felt like a crime to break him out of whatever he saw up there. It was as if he expected something or someone to do, to decipher, to tell, but I pulled him out of it.

"Zach?"

Had it been a different world, I would've taken pride in knowing he didn't have an answer. But apparently, he did.

"Less dramatic."

I didn't know whether or not to laugh. He did and kissed me.

"Well," I said once we broke away, "Since you seem to know everything, answer this: Why do I get the feeling something big is about to happen?"

He looked at me. The look he gave me was so much better then the look he had given to the sky. It was the same look, a look so intense; yet so casual that it was like he was trying to send me a telepathic signal, but better. This time, he looked at me like I as if I was the whole world.

"You know Gallagher Girl, you're good. Really good, you should see the way Abby and everyone talks about you. Joe has it in his expression every time he says your name, you're that good."

I didn't get what he was trying to say. He was being sweet and all but what?

"And you know why? Because of your instincts," he smiled, "they never lie."

Was he saying I was right? All other questions in my mind were erased with that one, and I subconsciously kept picking on the necklace. I looked at him one more time and I knew.

Something big was going to happen.

Now.

"Five seconds Gallagher Girl and life is taking another turn. Five-Four…" I stared at him, frozen, "-Three-Two-One."

**BAM!**

The gunshot sounded in the distance, I felt my eyes widen.

He grimaced. "Wake the others up. We have thirty seconds before they reach us."

The next thirty seconds was a blur as everyone was woken up and briefed, but all I could do was stare a Zach and think, _Goode, one day, you're going to in trouble for knowing so much._

**BAM! **

We had to move.

Now.

**A/N: Big change o' plans. This is not the second last chapter. Just thought I'd clear that up. Please review! And sorry about shortness!**

**-LeSaz**


	25. The Focusing

Forever and Always

Chapter 25: The Forcing

28 seconds.

Bex warmed up while Grant cracked his knuckles. Liz and Jonas loosened up security and strengthened it around town. Molly was our only close neighbor and we had our suspicions about her, so Liz double checked with Zach. "What should we do about Molly?"

"Secure her house."

"So, you're sure she's just another civilian?"

"Did I say that?" Ugh.

24 seconds.

Liz and Jonas were going to stay in the building contacting the CIA while Macey and Preston stayed on sit, ready for Liz and Jonas's signal. The rest of us were stalling until the back-up we called for arrived. If anything went wrong, we'd wing it.

18 seconds.

Images went through my mind as we all set up stations, cursed at Joe for not picking up, pulled out safety gear which none of us put on, and avoided guns but got armed anyway. Images of seeing seven of the people I loved most get hurt, or worse, die.

14 seconds.

A car, no, two cars revved up the street, almost silent, yet so loud that I nearly became deaf. I pictured the men, tall and burly, and thinking that they were no match for Gallagher Girls brought comfort to me. But I silently vowed that if any of my friends get caught in a mess, I'd surrender.

8 seconds.

Zach squeezed my hand and smiled reassuringly before rubbing his hands together. Waiting. Watching. Waiting.

6 seconds.

I felt numb. I wished that no one else had gotten involved.

3 seconds.

I stretched. It didn't help.

1 second.

A gunshot to pronounce their arrival was all we needed.

The next few seconds was a blur, as both sides pronounced themselves. Dodging kicks, punching, dodging punches, kicking. That's when it happened.

I realized that their Phyllis Cavan was not on the site. It took me off guard for a reason and I backed away. No one noticed. I took the chance to take in my surroundings. There were fourteen men. Two of them were driving. Two more were in the cars, the doors wide open, leering out. That made ten. Three men were already unconscious, courtesy of Bex Baxter and Grant Newman. They were now numbered seven to six. Zach noticed this and knocked another one out with hardly any trouble.

I moved my eyes and I now had my eyes on a man who was talking into his comms unit. He smiled, which scared me, and turned to the others. Morse code, I realized was how they were talking. Before I could decipher what they had said, they had guns out, each pointing at one of us. The man himself pointed at me.

That brought me over the edge. I had a plan, but I needed everyone to get it. I told Zach first, avoiding Morse code, but gesturing behind my back. The leader spoke.

"Morgan, get in the car and I'll leave your petty friends alone."

Half of me wanted to walk over and get in the car, leaving the rest of them safe, but the other half knew that I was a Morgan. And Morgan's never surrender.

It was a move we had learned in our freshman year. I told Zach my plan, gesturing wildly behind my back with my eye on the gun pointed at me, and waited for his nod before turning back to the man, stalling while the message was passed around.

"How do I know you aren't lying?" It just came out. I had no control over it.

He chuckled. I clenched my fists. "You're so much like your pathetic father. You aren't in a position to question us Morgan. Just walk over, put whatever weapons you have down and come with us." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw everyone moving slowly so that they were standing in a circle with their attackers in the center. They moved forwards slowly until the attackers were nearly back to back. Their eyes widened but they didn't consider it as a threat. Oh, were they wrong.

Zach caught my eye and gestured that they were ready. I moved my ring finger-gesturing that we would move on three. He nodded slightly.

"You say that I'm like my father?" I said, holding back tears. "Well then you'll know that he'd do anything to save his loved ones. And here I am," I raised my hands, in a false sign of defeat, bending my index finger to signal "1" to my friends. "here I am, in the same situation. Convince me that you'll leave them untouched and I'll come quietly." I could've sworn Zach winced. Everyone lowered their guns hesitantly and I bent my middle finger to signal "2".

My attacker glared at me but said, "Guns down" to his companions nonetheless, never noticing their position behind him. "Chameleon, in the car." I stepped forward, forcing him to step back. "Hey…" he said when I kicked him and grabbed the gun, pointing it at him on the ground. His followers were caught off guard. Perfect.

"Three!" I yelled out loud. The attackers stared at me, bewildered for a fraction of a second but it was just enough. I shot the man beneath me out of true anger.

My friends dove to the person diagonal to them, kicking them down and leaving their own attacker to be tended by the person next to them. One swift movement and the attackers were at our mercy. I looked up at Zach and he shook his head.

"We have no choice Cam. Liz and Jonas still haven't tracked anyone down. Kill them." Bex, Grant and Zach had no problem killing them. Preston hesitated for a while before shooting the man he was on top of. We had five people dead, four who had already fled and one left when Macey shook her head, her face white, and threw her gun down. Preston moved ever so carefully and pointed his gun at Macey's hostage when his gun clicked. No bullets.

His eyes widened and he dove for the gun Macey had thrown down when the attacker, the only one left alive, reached it before him and stood up. We were frozen and Zach was the only one who ran towards the attacker, but he was late. The attackers white teeth glistened triumphantly before he was shot in the back. But his hand had already been on the trigger.

I heard another bullet echo through the night. Preston fell.

**A/N: Yeah, er, don't kill me, please. The next one's a cliffy…sorry? If you're having trouble understanding what Cammie's plan was, then picture it like this:**

………………………………….Cammie………………………………………

………………………………….Attacker……………………………………...

………Zach…….Attacker…………………………………..Attacker…Bex…..

………Grant……Attacker…………………………………..Attacker…Macey..

……………………………………Attacker……………………………………

……………………………………Preston……………………………………..

**They arranged it somewhat like this and after Cammie held her own attacker hostage, Zach went for Grant's attacker, Grant went for Preston's, and Preston went for Macey's and so on. Hope it helps. Oh, and never fear, Molly IS in the next chapter, she's a pretty big part of the story, actually. Sorta. Review please! OH, AND NO! ZACH IS NOT BAD!**

**-LeSaz**


	26. The Reviving

Forever and Always

Chapter 26: The Reviving

"It's my fault."

"No it isn't Macey."

Macey paced around the hospital which Molly had helped us get to. All suspicions were erased from my mind as she argued with the doctor as to having Preston treated right away. Macey was arguing that it was her fault and gave the others such a look that it seemed she was trying to prove something. But as I looked at her blaming herself, I came to the conclusion that I. Didn't. Care.

"Yes it is. If only I hadn't been such a wimp, if only I'd pressed the darned trigger…" Macey looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"NO IT ISN'T MACEY!" I screamed.

"Then stop blaming yourself for it Cammie!" I stared at her. If anyone knew that I was killing myself inside, it would've been…Zach. But…Macey?

Ignoring everyone's startled looks; I ran to the vending machines and wished I could keep running into the night. But I backed away within earshot, lurking out of sight, listening in.

"Macey, don't you think you were a bit hard…?"

Macey cried out in exasperation, her voice tear-hinted. "Bex, I've been her roommate for two and a half years. I've seen her risk her life for me and Preston. I've seen her when she was ugliest, I've transformed her into the hottest she ever been. I know when she's lying, I know when she's angry. We all do. But I also know that she's transformed from the protector to the protected. And that being the protected is a heck of a lot harder." Her voice got lower as she went on. "She has to stop blaming herself for everything that happens. If I did that last year, I would've been driven out of my mind."

After that, there was silence. And there was a grim looking doctor. With good news. Preston lived. And there was Zach, seeing my through the curtain.

"Now that we know he's alive…go get Cam…?" It was Liz.

"I'll talk to her." Zach. I ran to the balcony on the next floor with my phone. I opened up my email and typed my email to Joe as quickly as I could. I couldn't do this anymore. It was either let in or get my friends out of the way.

"No."

The voice behind me was soft but ready to stand by what it said.

"Gallagher Girl, you are not going to send that email."

"Make me."

"3…2…1."

"You do love counting backwards don't you?"

"Yes I do. As much as I love connecting my girlfriends phone to mine so that whenever I turn my phone off, her phone shuts off as well. And would you look at that…my phone is completely dead."

My one second's hesitation to look down and check caused him to snatch it and hold it out of my grasp. I would've laughed. I would've jumped up and tried to grab it. I would've smiled when he wouldn't give it to me. But I _would've._

"Give it back Zach."

"Stop blaming yourself."

"Give it back."

"Stop blaming yourself."

"Don't make me…" I trailed off.

He smirked. "Civilians hospital." He gestured towards nurse carrying a clipboard near the water fountain.

"Do I look like I care?"

"Do I?" I suppressed a smile. He smirked for a moment before his amused expression faded.

"Cammie, I know this has been said about eight times in the past five minutes, but stop blaming yourself." I sighed and sank onto the floor of the balcony.

"I can't do this anymore Zach. You know I was already blaming myself for Mr. Baxter when it all happened." I felt strange. "Imagine if Preston died tonight. Would I ever…_ever_...let myself live it down?"

A car alarm went off distance. He didn't say anything.

"And what if someone else died? Like you or Macey or Bex or someone? Or even Molly or some innocent civilian, killed by a group of people they didn't even know existed. And what if they came back right now? Would I EVER live it down?"

He looked up, a glint in his eyes and said, "And imagine if I let you walk out now. Would any of us ever live it down? Ever?

"And in answer to your questions, Preston didn't die tonight and even if he did, he'd want you to live it down. And someone else wouldn't die," he shrugged carelessly. "because the Cavan isn't so sloppy. Oh, and I don't think there's an 'if they came back' option right now. They're probably in this hospital. Abby and Joe are on their way."

I don't know if I groaned or screamed.

"Hmmm, and everyone here is a spy just so you know. But they didn't need to be, 'cause Abby is in one of her rages. She'll either scream the person to death or just kill them."

"The person?"

"Yeah. Molly."

"No."

"Yes, and like I said, Joe is coming with Abby just in case she blows something up."

Someone started screaming downstairs. There was a crash, the sound of metal hitting glass and a disbelieving voice.

"THAT WAS MY NEICE YOU WERE TRYING TO KILL HENDRYX. _MY NEICE_!"

"Or that happened."

**A/N: Ok. Yeah. Sorry for not updating a week. This is nearly over. And my brother nearly burned my hair with a matchstick. Yeah. Review? It'll make me update faster…**

**-LeSaz**


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